


The First Page

by isnonstop, meghanisadweeb



Series: At Your Mercy [13]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-05-24 18:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14959940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isnonstop/pseuds/isnonstop, https://archiveofourown.org/users/meghanisadweeb/pseuds/meghanisadweeb
Summary: "When you meet someone for the first time, that's not the whole book. That's just the first page."-Brody ArmstrongJames and Thomas host a dinner for Ambrose and Amelie. James sees his brother for the first time in three years. There is awkwardness and angst all round.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sup friends! We wrote a thing! Please enjoy this story set three years in the future from the current time of AYM 'verse/shortly after the first story in the AYM 'verse spinoffs.

After the fight with his father that left him disowned, Frances was the only of his siblings that James was able to keep in contact with. For the first little while it was difficult while she still lived at home but once she went to university it was easy for them to keep in constant contact. She'd even spent a few breaks in New York with James and Thomas instead of going home to Virginia, going so far as to lie to their father about needing to stay at university for school work.

It was Frances that told James about Ambrose's engagement and subsequent marriage. James was completely unsurprised by the announcement and his father's choice in spouse for Ambrose. James Sr had had his eye on the White family since they were all kids. James was sure that if one of the White siblings was a submissive he would have been the one married to them. 

"Thomas," James said, making his husband look up from where he was buried in textbooks and notepaper. 

"Yes, sir?" Thomas said, brushing the hair out of his face. He had his glasses on and looked adorable. James wanted to wrap him up into his arms and never let go. 

"Do you remember my brother Ambrose?" James asked, setting down his phone onto the side of Thomas' desk before walking around it and leaning next to Thomas' chair. The submissive put down his pen and turned his chair to face James, giving the dominant his full attention. 

"Yes, sir," Thomas nodded, brow furrowing a bit as he tried to figure out where James was taking this. "Did something happen to him?"

"He's married," James said, reaching out to gently brush his fingers over the side of Thomas' face. The submissive sighed softly, leaning into James' touch. 

"Do you know his dominant, sir?" Thomas asked.

"I've met her once. So have you actually. She was at that Christmas party were we first met," James said softly.

“I don’t really remember anyone from that party except you,” Thomas admitted with a sheepish smile.

“Well, she was quite young then. And I haven’t seen her again since,” James shrugged, shifting closer and running his fingers through Thomas' hair. He loved how Thomas all but purred, leaning into his side. It reminded James of Liberty; it was no wonder Thomas loved that cat, he was practically one himself. "From what I know of her she is a good domme. Kind and fair." 

"That's good," Thomas' voice was soft, already drifting a bit from James' touch. It was so easy to bring him down lately, all the stress from finals and graduation and internship interviews causing him to be constantly on the tipping point. 

"I want to invite them over for dinner," James gave Thomas' hair a gentle tug, pulling his husband's head up a bit so he could look into the submissive's eyes. "Now that Ambrose is away from my father I want to have a relationship with him. I want to make sure he is happy and safe."

"Okay," Thomas smiled, his expression filled with love. He reached out and grabbed a handful of James' shirt, pulling him down for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too," James whispered, kissing him back gently before standing. "I'm going to make dinner. How does pasta sound?"

"Macaroni and cheese?" Thomas asked, eyes lighting up with hope and excitement. 

"Sure, love," James laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of Thomas' head before leaving the room.

\---

“Miss?” Ambrose asked softly, holding his phone with an iron-tight grip. He didn’t know if Amelie would be upset that he was talking to James and he really, really didn’t want her to take his cell phone away. He’d take a caning over not being able to speak to James. “Uh. My brother, James, lives really close? He goes to Columbia as well and he wanted to get the chance to meet you. Since they couldn't come to our wedding. He invited me to dinner and even if you don’t want to go- I need permission.” He winced, turning his head to protect his nose from damage. He was almost surprised when Amelie stood up and hugged him.

“Of course you can go. And I’d like to go, too. He’s your brother, and he’s important to you, so he’s important to me.” Amelie kissed his cheek before stepping back, looking at him intently. “You should never, ever be scared to ask permission to see people. The only reason you'll need to ask at all is so I know where you are. I’m not going to isolate you. Not even as a punishment. Is that understood?”

“Yes, miss.” Ambrose murmured, looking down at his feet. All the eye contact and firm, slow speech was starting to get to him a little bit. It was overwhelming. “But we can go? James wanted to know if Sunday worked for you. Um, Thomas, James’ husband, is Jewish, so Shabbat kind of ruins any dinner plans on a Friday or a Saturday.” Or, at least, that was his understanding of it. He didn’t know the logistics.

“Your brother’s submissive is Jewish?” Amelie tilted her head to the side, a little confused. “I would have thought he would have converted when the two of them got married.”

“You didn’t make me convert to Catholicism, miss.” Ambrose shrugged, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “And- you aren’t, are you? I guess you could, and I’m not that religious but I don’t really-” It wasn’t like religion was terribly important to him, but it kind of connected him to his family. Even if his family didn’t want to be connected to him. He was an uppity, bratty submissive and he honestly didn’t blame them.

“You don’t have to convert. It’s all the same holidays, the same god, the same messiah. Even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t make you convert. I wouldn’t want to if I was a submissive. My mama and papa are both Catholic and it would feel like I was betraying them if I converted.” Amelie pecked Ambrose’s forehead and took his hand, pulling him over to the couch. “Kneel down for me, baby.”

Ambrose sighed happily when his knees hit the cushion, feeling much more relaxed than he had earlier. Being able to submit in little ways like this was what kept him sane when Amelie was gone all day. “Miss?” He asked quietly, resting his head on her thigh. “Are you mad that I was talking to James without permission?” He didn't really know how strict Amelie would be about things like that.

“Ambrose, you can talk to whoever you want. James, Frances, anyone.” Amelie sighed, shaking her head. 

\---

Thomas nervously fiddled with his collar as he watched the timer on the stove tick down to zero. Ambrose and Amelie were due to arrive soon and Thomas was only a little bit freaked out. He had an interview for an internship the next morning and he still had his term paper to finish. He, in truth, wasn’t overly pleased about having to stop working to host this dinner but he knew how much it meant to James to have a relationship with his brother. And Thomas wanted to make James happy. So he had set aside his work for the afternoon and spent the entire time cooking up a three course meal. 

“Thomas?” James said, peaking into the kitchen. He was dressed up nicer than he would usually be on a Sunday and Thomas knew he’d changed his outfit at least a half dozen times before settling on the dress pants and button down shirt. 

“Yes?” Thomas turned away from the stove, counting down the seconds until the timer went off as a way to stay calm. 

“Are you okay?” James said, walking over and gently tracing his fingers over Thomas’ collar where his name was engraved. “You look tense, love.”

“I’m just a little nervous,” Thomas said, giving James a small smile. “I want things to go well tonight.”

“I’m sure they will,” James said softly, thumb brushing over the warm skin of Thomas’ neck. Thomas smiled, reaching up to take James’ hand. He ran his fingers over James’ wrist cuff, tracing his own name engraved into the smooth leather. “Thomas?”

“Yes, sir?” Thomas said, stepping a little closer to James and inhaling his dominant’s scent. 

“I don’t know much about Amelie so I don’t know her stance on submissive’s rights and everything but I want you to be yourself tonight, okay?” James said, wrapping his arms around Thomas and pulling him close. “If she has a problem with it she can leave. This is your home and you should always feel comfortable to be yourself here, okay?”

“Yes, sir,” Thomas smiled, leaning in to kiss James gently. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Thomas,” James said, brushing his fingers through Thomas’ curls. The kiss lasted less than ten seconds before it was interrupted by the sound of the oven timer going off, making Thomas jerk back quickly to deal with it. James chuckled, stepping back and running a hand over his face as he watched Thomas pull the dishes out of the oven. Whatever it was that the submissive had made smelled delightful and, even with the nerves causing knots in his stomach, James couldn’t wait to eat. 

“James?” Thomas said, setting down the dish on the counter so he could check the contents, mixing some things around a bit before returning it to the oven. He set a timer for another twenty minutes before stepping over to the fridge.

“Yes?” James said, glancing at the oven clock to check the time. Amelie and Ambrose would be arriving any minute. 

“Can you make sure the table is set?” Thomas asked, glancing over his shoulder at him. “And set out the hors d'oeuvres and drinks? And make sure that the living room is tidy? And-“

“Thomas,” James cut him off, a fond smile on his face. Thomas blushed, ducking his head and chewing on his bottom lip. James stepped over and cupped Thomas’ cheek, tilting his head back a bit to make the submissive look at him. “Breathe, love.”

“Sorry, sir,” Thomas whispered, shutting his eyes and leaning into James’ hand. 

“It’s okay, darling,” James said softly, rubbing his thumb over Thomas’ lips. “I just don’t want you to have a panic attack, okay? So I need you to breathe for me. And if at any point tonight things become too much you are to tell me immediately okay?”

“Yes, sir,” Thomas smiled, opening his eyes to look at James. “I promise.”

“Good boy,” James whispered, leaning in to kiss him gently.

\---

“What should I wear, miss?” Ambrose looked down at his feet and messed around with his hands, swallowing thickly. He didn't want to have to choose for himself and risk getting it wrong or doing something to upset his dominant.

“Hm. I like-” Amelie looked through the closet and picked out a white shirt and burgundy tie. “This. And some black pants. It'll match the roses on my dress.” She smiled, handing Ambrose his clothes. “But you'll need to iron and starch your shirt. And, while you're in the kitchen, can you grab my phone? And my purse. My phone is probably in there anyways.”

“Of course, miss.” Ambrose nodded, smiling up at her anxiously before leaving the room to head to the kitchen. Ironing his clothes was nothing special, kind of boring, actually. He'd done it a lot, being the oldest submissive sibling. He finished fairly quickly, going to the bathroom to change. He didn't know if he felt comfortable being in naked in a room with Amelie unless she was naked, too. God knew how unsettling it was to be the only undressed person in a room.

“Here you go, miss.” Ambrose glanced up at Amelie, setting her purse on the dresser in front of her. “You, uh- You look nice. Very nice.” He mumbled, biting his lip. She really did. The dress was classy, but tight, clinging to her body in a way that wasn’t exactly conservative but wasn’t overtly sexual, either. He didn’t know how to explain it, it just looked really nice.

“Thanks, baby.” Amelie grinned, leaning down to kiss him. She was extremely tall when she was barefoot, and she never wore anything but heels, so they had to do a lot of standing on tiptoes and bending over in order to kiss. It wasn’t the worst thing, honestly. It made Ambrose feel small in a good way, like his domme was going to care for him.

Amelie looked at her feet for a second, fidgeting with her hands. “Do you think your brother is going to like me? I just- This is the first time I’ve ever really interacted with him and I want it to go well. He’s your brother, and I- I don’t know.” She sighed. It suddenly struck Ambrose just how little he had seen his dominant be this nervous. She cried at the ends of movies, she got anxious before papers were due- but she’d never been this cold-sweating-ly, clammy palms-ily nervous around him.

“I’m sure that he’ll like you just fine, miss. I don’t know how he couldn’t. You’re wonderful.” Ambrose tilted his head to the side, looking up at her and biting his lip.

“Do you think the cross is too much? I don’t want to seem like I’m a Jesus freak.” She frowned, wiping her hands on the skirt of her dress and looking over herself in the mirror. “I mean, I’m pretty devout, but I just- I don’t know what’s going to be offensive to Thomas and what isn’t and-” She cut herself off with a sigh, shaking her head.

“You’re going to be fine, miss. I’m sure they’ll like you, and I’ve met Thomas. He isn’t going to shun you because you have different religious beliefs than him. And you’re a dominant, so he might be too scared to say anything at all to you.” Ambrose put his hand on Amelie’s shoulder tentatively flinching when Amelie sharply turned around.

“Thanks, Ambrose.” She kissed the top of his head and smiled, her eyes closed. “Now, let’s get going. I don’t want to be late and I don’t know how bad traffic is going to be.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Miss, can I-" He asked softly, reaching up to fiddle with his collar. Amelie nodded, unable to keep a grin off her face. Her submissive was just too perfect sometimes. Ambrose rushed over to James, clinging to him. "I missed you so much, Jamie."_
> 
>  
> 
> _James swallowed, hugging his brother back tight. It had been far too long since the last time seen Ambrose. James felt tears well up in his eyes as he squeezed Ambrose tight. "I've missed you too, Ambrose."_

The sound of the knock on the door made Thomas jump, nearly dropping the bowl of pie filling he was holding and scooping into the pie tin. He looked over at where James was fiddling with the cutlery on the table, looking far more nervous than Thomas had seen him in a long time. Thomas put down the bowl, wiping his hands on a tea-towel before going to answer the door. He paused in front of it, taking a deep breath before pulling it open.

Amelie shifted where she stood, feeling a little bit nauseous and extremely anxious. She swallowed thickly when James' submissive- Thomas. His name was Thomas. She made herself smile when Thomas opened the door, offering him a bottle of champagne. "I didn't know if I should bring anything, and my mama always said that the fastest way to make friends is with alcohol." She offered her hand for him to shake, not sure of the best way to approach a conversation.

Thomas looked a little startled, glancing down at her hand and hesitating for a moment. It wasn't that he was unused to being treated like an equal, living in New York for three years had shown him that there were plenty of people in the world who treated submissives well, but he definitely didn't expect it from the person James Madison Sr had chosen for his son. He took her hand, giving it a quick shake before taking the champagne and stepping to the side, opening the door wider. "Thank you, ma'am. This looks lovely, please come in."

Amelie genuinely, honest-to-goodness, beamed when Thomas took her hand. Handshakes were good. That was progress. "Please, Amelie is more than fine. Ma'am makes me feel old." She stepped past him, smiling apologetically. Ambrose followed her with his eyes down, tapping her on the shoulder as a kind of silent request for permission to speak to Thomas. Amelie nodded, because of course she did.

"Hello, Thomas." He said quietly, nodding. He didn't want to lag behind too much, for fear of making Amelie angry. She was usually patient with him, but he didn't know how she would be around another dominant, even if that other dominant was his brother.

"Hello, Ambrose," Thomas said, shutting the door behind the couple. He set the champagne bottle down on the hall table before turning to Amelie. "Can I take your coats, Ms. White?"

"Amelie. Please, for the love of God, you can call me Amelie. The idea of automatically getting respect when I haven't done anything to deserve it freaks me the fuck out." She sighed but did give Thomas her coat. "It's nice to meet you, by the way. I know you and Ambrose have only met twice, but he still speaks very highly of you." Amelie said with a small smile, tilting her head to the side.

Thomas stiffened a bit at her reaction, ducking his head slightly as he took her coat, turning away to hang it up in the hall closet. Once the coat was hung up he turned back, giving Amelie a small nod and hesitant smile at her words, not sure what to say before asking softly, "May I take Ambrose's coat as well?"

"Oh, shit- I'm sorry, Thomas. I didn't mean to get so forceful." Amelie mentally kicked herself, feeling like an absolute idiot. She shuffled a little where she stood, feeling a little too tall and like she was taking up a little too much space. "Of course." She hummed, tilting her head to the side.

Ambrose took it off silently, looking down at his shoes. He felt a slender hand on his shoulder that relaxed him almost immediately, leaning up into the touch. "Thank you." He said quietly, taking her hand and holding it firmly in his own.

"It's fine, Mi- It's fine," Thomas said softly, taking Ambrose's coat and hanging it up alongside Amelie's. "James is in the living room. If you'll follow me." Thomas turned and headed down the hall to the living room, not bothering to make sure they were following. He needed to see his dom.

Amelie sighed softly, following Thomas closely. It was obvious that he was nervous, and she hadn't exactly helped with that by snapping at him. Ambrose ended up actually leading her, obviously over the moon to see his brother. It wasn't exactly a long walk, and Ambrose stopped just short of running up to him and pulling him into a bear hug.

"Miss, can I-" He asked softly, reaching up to fiddle with his collar. Amelie nodded, unable to keep a grin off her face. Her submissive was just too perfect sometimes. Ambrose rushed over to James, clinging to him. "I missed you so much, Jamie."

James swallowed, hugging his brother back tight. It had been far too long since the last time seen Ambrose. James felt tears well up in his eyes as he squeezed Ambrose tight. "I've missed you too, Ambrose."

"I'm sorry I didn't keep in touch, it was just- Dad was always watching me and I couldn't get away and I didn't have your number. I'm sorry." Ambrose sighed, giving James one last squeeze before pulling back reluctantly.

"It's okay, Ambrose. I understand. It's not your fault our father is an ass," James said softly, reaching out to rest a hand on Ambrose's cheek before hesitating, glancing over Amelie - not sure how she'd feel about him touching her submissive with permission.

"I know, but..." Ambrose sighed softly, biting his lip. "Whatever. We can make up for it now. Whenever you don't have classes." He smiled softly when he felt James' hand on his cheek, also looking at his dominant nervously. He got a soft chuckle, a nod, and a warm look that only encouraged him, diving in for another hug.

"Yes. Yes, we can," James said, hugging his brother tight and closing his eyes. "I love you, Ambrose."

"I love you too, Jamie." Ambrose sighed happily, feeling whatever tension he was holding onto drain right out of his shoulders. Amelie's phone broke through the otherwise quiet living room, and she cursed under her breath.

"It's fine," James said, stepping away from Ambrose, hand lingering on his brother's arm as he passed as if he thought Ambrose was going to disappear if he stopped touching him, and going over to Amelie. "It's nice to finally meet you, Amelie. Thank you for coming tonight."

Ambrose couldn't help but sigh when James stepped away, but he let him go without much complaint. Amelie smiled, offering her hand to the other dominant. "We kind of met a long time ago, but I would have been, what? Five? But, yeah, it's great to meet you, too. Ambrose hasn't stopped talking about you since we moved."

"Has he?" James said, shaking her hand and glancing over his shoulder at Ambrose, smiling at his brother. He caught sight of Thomas standing quietly off to the side and frowned a bit. "Thomas?"

"I'm fine, sir," Thomas nodded. "I'm going to go finish making the pie and check on dinner." With that, he turned and walked into the kitchen.

Amelie shifted anxiously at James and Thomas's rather cool interaction, knowing that she hadn't exactly helped with the submissive's mood. "I'm sorry- I kind of snapped at him and I probably made him anxious. I'm going to go- I'm going to go apologize. Properly." She rushed after Thomas, biting down on her lip.

"Thomas? I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did earlier. That was uncalled for. I spoke to you like you were stupid because you're a submissive and I shouldn't have done that. I'm trying to unlearn some things that I learned when I was younger and it's not always easy. I'm so, so sorry." Amelie said, probably a little too quickly, closing her eyes.

Thomas looked up, holding the bowl in his hands tightly as he watched her. "It's fine," he said softly, turning his attention back to filling the pie crust. "I'm just on edge because of school and stuff and overreacted. It's fine."

"I know that we don't really know each other, but- Do you want to talk about it?" Amelie asked softly, leaning up against the counter. "And, for the record, I've been known to make a half-decent pie or two." She smiled, stepping towards him a little. She didn't want to get too close because she didn't know how James would react.

"It's just graduation stress," Thomas shrugged, not looking at her as he scooped the last of the filling into the crust. "Nothing all that interesting or important. And, thank you, but the pie is basically ready to be put in the oven."

"Well- Alright." Amelie didn't want to push him into a conversation that he wasn't comfortable with. "If you don't want to talk about school stress, tell me about yourself. Ambrose has told me plenty about James, but he doesn't really know much about you."

Thomas gave another small shrug, "There's nothing really interesting about me, M-" Thomas cut himself off, turning to check the timer on the oven. "But if you have any questions I, of course, will answer them for you."

"Of course there's something interesting about you. Everyone is interesting. Even the most boring, beige person on the planet can be interesting." Amelie protested, shaking her head. "Hm. How many... How many languages do you speak?"

"Fluently four," Thomas said, setting up the cooling trays on the counter for when the oven timer went off. "English, French, Italian, Latin. But I can also get by in Greek and Spanish."

"Damn. All I've got is English, French that my mama taught me, fake German from high school, and required Catholic school Latin." Amelie whistled softly, nodding. She was genuinely impressed. "For the record, that smells amazing."

"That is still impressive," Thomas said, glancing over at her. Her compliment made him blush slightly, ducking his head slightly. "Thank you."

"Eh. French is the only language other than English I'm any good at. My mama's an immigrant, so it's always been the best way I can communicate with her." Amelie shrugged, crossing her arms. "No problem. I'm absolutely starving."

"My mother is from France as well," Thomas admitted softly, stepping over to the oven as the timer went off. He opened the oven and pulled out the baking dishes, the delightful smell filling the apartment. "She moved to Virginia after marrying my father."

"My mama and papa actually got married in Paris and had my oldest brother, Antoine, there. My papa got pulled away on business so they ended up moving back to America." Amelie tilted her head to the side and couldn't help but smile. This was good! A connection. "Need any help with anything?"

"I'm fine," Thomas said, shutting the oven and turning it off. "I do this a lot." He rested the oven mitts down on the counter, checking the dishes. "My parents met when my father was doing an internship in France during his last year of university. My mother's family didn't agree with their relationship but she was adamant and ran away to the US to marry him."

"I don't. I bake sometimes, but Ambrose takes care of the cooking. Not that I think that submissives should be confined to the home, I'm just an awful chef. I've burned water." Amelie said quickly, trying to rescue the tattered remains of their polite conversation. "Oh." That was... quite different from how her parents had met. "The biggest issue was the fact my papa was Protestant. He converted because my grand-mère wouldn't let my mama marry anyone who wasn't Catholic."

Thomas nodded slightly, moving the roast potatoes from the baking dish to a serving one. "Religion wasn't an issue since both sides of my family are Jewish. My grandparents just didn't like my father and his ideas about the world. Especially about submissives. My grandparents aren't really liberal but they even thought my father was too conservative."

"No offense, but from what I've heard about your father and the way he treated you and submissives in general... He sounds like he's a dick." Amelie shrugged, glancing down at her shoes. She shouldn't have said that, because she didn't know what Thomas thought of his father or what their relationship was like. Thomas's dad could be his hero and she just fucked up.

"He is," Thomas said with a shrug. "I haven't spoken to him in years, not since he found out that James was letting me go to school."

"Oh. Well, in that case, fuck that guy." Amelie snorted, rolling her eyes. "And, for the record, I'm not like that. My papa is pretty conservative, but he's nowhere as bad as yours. The worst thing he ever taught me was that I'm smarter than subs and a bunch of shit about how doms shouldn't cry."

Thomas looked over, watching Amelie for a moment before giving a small nod and picking up the bowl of roasted vegetables. "Can you bring that bowl of potatoes to the table please?"

"Of course!" Amelie said cheerfully, springing into action and carrying the bowl over to the dining table. It was kind of heavy, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle. "Should I go get Ambrose and James?"

"Yes, please," Thomas said, giving her a small smile before going back to the kitchen to get the other dishes.

"James? Ambrose? Dinner's ready." Amelie stepped into the living room with a small smile, placing a guiding hand on Ambrose's lower back."You're doing so well, love..." She watched, pleased, as the submissive smiled.

"Thank you, miss."

James smiled at the interaction, knots in his stomach soothed by the way Ambrose seemed to relax under Amelie's gentle touch. He went into the dining room in search of Thomas, finding his husband carefully arranging the dishes on the table. He went over, wrapping his arms around Thomas' waist and kissing the back of his neck, directly above his collar. Thomas sighed softly, leaning back against James.

"You okay, love?" James whispered, rubbing a hand over Thomas' stomach.

"Yes, sir," Thomas whispered, his voice soft but honest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out to be longer than we expected... so it's probably going to be around 6 chapters now instead of two or maybe longer... who knows? We surely don't.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I'm supposed to be honest," Ambrose mumbled, almost begrudgingly._
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _"And you aren't being honest with me, are you? We'll talk about this later." Amelie sighed, frowning a little. "You know what that means, right? You've lost your privilege to sit at the table. Kneel."_

Amelie tentatively sat in what she assumed would be her chair, not entirely sure of when it would be appropriate for her to sit. She didn't know what they did as far as dinner went, and she didn't want to be rude. Ambrose looked down at the floor, chewing on his lower lip like he was deep in thought.

"Should I kneel?" He asked quietly, eyes wide. "I just- I don't want to- James? Should I-" He pointed at the floor, voice a little bit shaky.

"You don't have to, Ambrose," James said, stepping away from Thomas and giving his brother a gentle smile. "Thomas only kneels to eat when he wants to. If you want to you can, but you don't have to." He paused, looking over at Amelie, gaze searching. "Unless of course your dominant expects you to."

"I just- I want to follow whatever rules you have. I'm a guest, after all." Ambrose shrugged, considering. He ended up deciding to sit, having gone far too long without seeing his brother miss out on a conversation with him. "I usually kneel at home, but that's just a comfort thing."

"My good boy," Amelie said softly, kissing her submissive's cheek.

"I just want you to do what feels comfortable," James said, moving to his own seat. Thomas waited until James had sat before sitting himself, not because he had to but because he was still a bit on edge and often reverted to his outdated submissive training in situations of high stress. "The number one rule in his house is for everyone to be themselves and speak up if something is making them uncomfortable."

"Oh." Amelie shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "Not that that's bad, obviously. It's probably the most important rule anyone could ever set ever, but it's just... not the sort of thing I was expecting from you, James."

Ambrose nodded, looking down in his lap. Amelie rubbed tiny circles on his knee, smiling softly. "You look tense, baby boy. I need you to relax for me, okay?" She said quietly, pressing a kiss to his temple.

"Oh?" James said, voice measured as he frowned slightly at her. Thomas tensed a bit, catching his bottom lip between his teeth as he reached out under the table to take James' hand, squeezing it tight.

"Oh, no! It's not like that. I just know how Ambrose was raised and, to be frank, I thought that maybe you would be more like your father. Obviously, you aren't, but-" Amelie was quick to cover up her mistake, feeling her palms start to get sweaty. Fuck, sweaty palms were the worst.

"Ah," James said, squeezing Thomas' hand back gently as he gave Amelie a small smile. "I understand. That's a pretty easy assumption to make based on what you know of my family."

"So. Food." Ambrose interrupted the conversation with a nervous chuckle, having rearranged his fork and knife about twenty times. "Can we eat? I'm absolutely starving."

"Yes, of course," James said as Thomas dropped his hand and stood, serving up the food onto everyone's plates - James first and then Amelie, followed by Ambrose and then his own before sitting back down and ducking his head to pray softly.

Amelie crossed herself and said a silent prayer, immediately picking up her fork when she was finished. She took quick bite after quick bite, groaning in between swallows "Jesus Christ, that's delicious." It suddenly occurred to her how rude she was being, stopping short to cover her mouth. Ambrose started giggling softly, something that earned him a slap on the thigh.

James and Thomas shared a look before they both smiled slightly, picking up their own forks to begin eating. "I thought it was blasphemous to take the Lord's name in vain like that?" Thomas said, cutting up a piece of potato before taking a bite.

"It's also a damning sin to work on Sunday or wear polyester. We all cherry pick." Amelie snorted, shaking her head. She wasn't exactly a model Catholic, even barring her blasphemy.

“I suppose,” Thomas gave a small thoughtful nod, taking another bite of his food. He still, after years of learning about Christianity, he still didn’t completely understand it.

"But, really, I'm the last person on Earth that you should be learning about Catholicism from." Amelie shrugged, leaning back in her chair a little. She turned to Ambrose, who shrugged. He was more relaxed than Amelie had ever seen him, laughing and chatting and, dare she say it, she had even heard him swear when she was sitting with James in the living room.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand Christianity,” Thomas shrugged as well, relaxing a bit and pressing his leg against James’. “James and I have been going to both church and temple for years and Christianity is still a mystery to me.”

"I was raised by the most devout Catholic in the world, maybe second only to the goddamn pope, and I don't understand Christianity." Amelie giggled softly, reaching up to play with her necklace. "Oh. Shit. I forgot that you're Jewish. That was... A little bit of a surprise."

“A surprise?” Thomas’ brow furrowed a bit.

"Just... Back to the idea of this upright, conservative, southern dominant. It's just customary for a submissive to convert when they get married." The topic of religion was definitely fitting because Amelie was silently praying that she didn't say something that would make an ass out of her.

“I did convert,” Thomas said, taking a sip of his water.

“Thomas,” James sighed, looking over at his submissive with a frown.

“I technically did, James,” Thomas said, looking over at James with a shrug. “Your dad made me convert right before our wedding.”

“And I told you that it was just for show,” James said, reaching over to squeeze Thomas’ hand gently.

“I know but technically,” Thomas said, his tone teasing. James sighed, rolling his eyes and leaning over to kiss his cheek. Amelie thanked whatever deity balanced the tenuous order of the universe that James and Thomas had senses of humour. Ambrose cleared his throat, fidgeting a little.

"James, where's the bathroom?" He asked quietly, looking down at his lap. He didn't even really need to use the bathroom, he was just getting sort of anxious and he didn't want to say anything conspicuous. "It's okay that I go, right, miss?"

"Of course you can go to the bathroom, Ambrose. It's ridiculous that you feel like you have to ask." Amelie kissed his cheek before taking another bite of potatoes.

“It’s down the hall,” James said, gesturing over his shoulder. “First door on the left.”

"Thank you." Ambrose smiled nervously, standing and rushing down the hall. James watched him leave, looking concerned as Ambrose rushed off.

"I think that he's kind of overwhelmed. A lot of things have been going on and I don't know how well he's dealing with all of it. I'm dealing with finals and interviews for summer gigs and then we just got married and, on top of that, he's bored a lot of the time." Amelie sighed, watching her submissive walk away with a small frown.

"So he doesn't go to school?" Thomas asked, over to the hallway that Ambrose had just disappeared down.

"That sounds bad, I know. But he didn't want to. I couldn't convince him to. And, call me selfish, but I kind of like having him there when I get home. Shit. That sounds really awful." Amelie sighed, physically facepalming.

"Not totally awful," Thomas said, pouring himself some more water. "Some submissives don't have any interest in going to school. I know it can make a lot of submissives really anxious, myself included sometimes."

Amelie nodded, taking a deep drink of water. "He didn't even know what he would study if he were to go. Honestly? I think that it's because submissives are usually so discouraged from education in general." She shrugged, biting her lip.

"Maybe he could do some online courses," Thomas suggested lightly, not wanting to make Amelie feel like he was trying to tell her what to do with her submissive. "He could study from home and even if he never got a degree he could just study things he's interested in for the fun of it."

"That's... Actually, that's a really good idea, Thomas. Thank you. I'll have to talk to him about doing something like that." Amelie nodded, thinking it over. Something like that would probably be really good for Ambrose, who seemed like he felt cooped up in their apartment a lot.

"Can you guys not talk about me when I'm not in the room?" Ambrose's voice was quiet, but he was obviously a little upset. Shit.

"I'm sorry, Ambrose," James said, looking over at his little brother with worry filled eyes. "We shouldn't have done that. It's rude."

"It's okay, just- Just don't do it again." Ambrose shrugged, feeling knots starting to twist in his stomach. Amelie rested her hand on the top of his head, brushing through his hair.

"I'm sorry, baby boy. I didn't mean to upset you." She murmured, her hand travelling down a bit to the area just above his collar. "We weren't saying anything bad about you, for the record. Thomas was just talking about how it might be good for you to take a couple of online classes or something."

"It would give you something to do," Thomas said softly. "I know I was so bored for the first few months after James and I signed our betrothal contract when I was home all the time." Thomas' expression was gentle and open as he watched Ambrose. "Even if you don't want to get a job ever you could just study things that interest you, to give you something to do so you don't get bored out of your mind."

Ambrose thought about it for a second, feeling significantly soothed by all of Amelie's attention. "As long as I'm not spending more time focusing on school than I am on taking care of you. I like being at home." That wasn't entirely true, but it was close enough that it wasn't a bold-faced lie.

Thomas swallowed, giving a small nod as he looked down at his lap. He knew that look on Ambrose' face and the careful way the younger submissive had phrased his response. Ambrose wasn't telling the full truth but Thomas wasn't going to rat him out, not wanting to get the submissive in trouble.

Amelie watched Thomas's reaction and played what Ambrose had said back over in her head, the pieces starting to fall into place. "You can't bullshit me, Ambrose. I'm the queen of bullshit. Remind me of rule number three?"

"I'm supposed to be honest," Ambrose mumbled, almost begrudgingly.

"And you aren't being honest with me, are you? We'll talk about this later." Amelie sighed, frowning a little. "You know what that means, right? You've lost your privilege to sit at the table. Kneel."

"Yes, miss." He said softly, hiding his face. He'd acted out in front of James and Thomas and that was even worse than having to kneel.

Thomas watched the interaction with interest, looking for any signs that Ambrose was distressed. But he found nothing beyond the expected self-disappointment that came when a submissive upset their dominant. Nothing to be concerned about. He rested a hand on James' leg, squeezing it gently to assure his dominant that Ambrose was okay before turning to Amelie. "Would you like some more vegetables, Amelie?"

"Oh, yes, thank you." Amelie nodded, offering her plate to Thomas in order to make it easier for him. "Actually, there's one other thing. Can I have a kneeling cushion? I worry about his knees." She asked, a little hopefully.

“Yes of course!” James said, jumping up quickly and going over to the corner where a basket of cushions sat. He grabbed the top one, the biggest and comfiest one, and took it back over to Amelie. He probably shouldn’t have chosen the most comfortable cushion when Ambrose was in trouble but Ambrose was his little brother and he was seriously doubted Amelie would be upset.

It was obvious what James was doing, but in all honesty, Amelie couldn't be upset. He was looking out for his little brother, the same way anyone would. "Thank you." She nodded, smiling a little. Ambrose put it under his knees with a grateful sigh. "It's one thing if it's just for a little while or on the carpet, but his knees are pretty sensitive and I don't want him to get hurt. I can't think of anything worse than hurting him, even as a punishment." Even though she was talking to James, she really only had eyes for Ambrose. She looked down at him warmly, her hand rubbing his shoulder.

“Yeah I feel the same way,” James said, returning to his seat and pressing a kiss to Thomas’ cheek, making the submissive smile and blush lightly. “Punishments are about learning and catharsis, not about pain.”

"Thank you! I've seen people that use, like, corporal punishment with their subs and it just seems... abusive. There's nothing to be learned without communication. Pain is one thing if it's someone's kink, but it can make a dynamic concerning if it's a part of the regular, everyday power exchange." Amelie nodded eagerly, kind of excited to talk to a dominant with the same general ideas about submissives.

“I’ve never been a fan of corporal punishment,” James said, pouring himself some more water. “I have friends who use corporal punishment - with limits and expectations clearly defined in advance - but it’s not really my thing. And there are much more effective ways of punishing Thomas when he needs it. Which truthfully isn’t often.” James looked over at Thomas, gaze filled with love as he added, “He’s a good boy.”

Thomas blushed, ducking his head and fiddling with his collar. “Thank you, sir.”

"Honestly, other than right now, I can only think of one time I've ever had to punish Ambrose for anything. And it was for dishonesty then, too." Amelie shrugged, smiling down at her submissive. He looked so calm and serene, eyes closed. "As good as Thomas might be, Ambrose is clearly better." Amelie giggled quietly, but there were serious undertones to what she said. "I have the best submissive in the world."

James laughed, leaning back slightly in his chair. “I’m going to have to disagree there - Thomas is definitely the best submissive in the world. You and Ambrose haven’t been together a fraction of the time Thomas and I have so, of course, you’ve only had to punish him twice.”

"Nope. Sorry. Ambrose is the absolute greatest. I don't make the rules." Amelie grinned, leaning forward and fake-glaring over at James. "Keep going like that and I'm going to have to duel you to protect my boy's honour."

"Amelie, you're embarrassing me," Ambrose whined, resting his head on her thigh. "Jamie, she's too stubborn. You'll never win."

“James,” Thomas laughed as James leaned forward, eyes sparkling as he prepared a response for Amelie, fully ready to keep going. “Maybe we should leave the duels for the second dinner, okay?”

"Oh no, James has me going now. I'm willing to kill him over this, now. I'm going to have to fight him. It's the only way to settle the fact that Ambrose is clearly the best submissive." Amelie said solemnly, shaking her head.

“Thomas, fetch my pistols,” James said, tone serious and eyes sparkling with mirth. “She has called my honour into question. We must resolve this.”

"Oh, no, I think the hell not. Ambrose, if I die, I want to be wearing sweatpants in the grave." Amelie sat up, narrowing her eyes at James. "But I wouldn't count on it, because I would clearly win any duel ever."

“Okay, okay,” Thomas laughed, standing up. “You dominants keep doing your grandstanding. I’m going to go check on dessert. Ambrose, join me?”

"God, yes. If I have to hear another minute of them one-upping each other I think I'll jump out the window." Ambrose stood, following Thomas back into the kitchen. "I love both of them, but they're the most stubborn people I've ever met. Honestly, I think that Amelie is the only person on Earth that could outlast James' willpower."

“Exhausting,” Thomas said, switching on the oven light and peaking in to see how the pie was coming along. “James can be so stubborn sometimes it’s exhausting.”

"At least they can be an unstoppable force and an unmovable object and keep us out of it." Ambrose smiled to himself, thinking about his older brother and dominant getting on so well. "I used to have this hero-worship for James, and I'm glad that my domme and my childhood hero have a chance of being friends."

Thomas glanced over at Ambrose, gaze searching as he watched the submissive for a moment before stepping a little closer, voice growing a bit quieter. “You’re happy right, Ambrose? Amelie treats you well?”

"Amelie is great. I never thought that the person that my father married me off to would be someone that I could trust and have an actual relationship with, you know? I genuinely do love her, and she loves me, too. She treats me amazingly. Better than I could have ever wished for." Ambrose said softly, nodding. "She's perfect."

“Good,” Thomas said, reaching out and resting a hand on Ambrose’s shoulder. Generally, there was no social taboo about submissives touching each other without explicit permission from their dominants so Thomas didn’t feel worried that he was crossing a line. “That’s good, Ambrose. I thought the same thing. I’m glad you’re happy.”

"You seem happy with James, but he's good to you, right? Even though he's my older brother, I'll still kick his ass for you." Ambrose chuckled softly, deciding to skip the shoulder touching and pull Thomas into a tight hug. "I'm excited for this. I want to get to know the submissive that stole my brother's heart so much that he was willing to be disowned for him."

“Very happy,” Thomas said softly, hugging Ambrose back tightly. “I love your brother very much and he’s the best dominant I could ask for.”

Ambrose snorted, rolling his eyes. "Not to sound too much like my brother, but I'll duel you over that. Amelie is the world's best dominant and that's a fact."

Thomas laughed, pulling back and smiling down at Ambrose. “Let’s just agree to disagree and go see if our dominants are finished their pissing contest.”

"Everything is a dick measuring contest with dominants. It's annoying as hell." Ambrose giggled, covering his mouth with his hand. "Okay, we can agree for sure that Amelie is the best lady-dominant and James is the best dude-dominant."

Thomas laughed, wrapping an arm around Ambrose’s shoulders and leading him out of the kitchen. “Yes, that is definitely something I can agree with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter count has officially gone back up again, but we're done writing so this change will be permanent! Thank you all with the patience for this update.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He took a small bite, groaning softly. "That's absolutely amazing. You're a wizard, Thomas."_
> 
> _“Thank you,” Thomas smiled, taking a small bite of his pie. “It’s my mother’s recipe.”_

"Baby boy, tell this troglodyte that, one, you have better taste in food than Thomas, and two, that you have better fashion sense than Thomas." Amelie crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh my god, Amelie, you're being ridiculous." Ambrose rolled his eyes, getting back down on his knees.

“I’m sorry, have you seen my husband?” James said, gesturing to Thomas’ outfit. “No one has a better sense of fashion than Thomas.”

"Excuse me?! Ambrose is both classy and practical. That purple is ridiculous." Amelie frowned, leaning forward a little.

"She's just defensive over the way I dress because my fashion sense is her fashion sense." Ambrose shook his head, poking his head up above the table.

“Aha!” James said, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. “It doesn’t count as his fashion sense if you picked it!”

"Ambrose, just for that, I'm going to have to kill you. You've brought dishonor unto our house and I can't stand for that." Amelie glared down at her submissive, who clutched his chest.

"Oh, the humanity! What a world! What a world! Clear my search history and don't look in my sock drawer!" Ambrose called out dramatically, faking a gasp.

Thomas snorted, hiding his smile behind his wine glass as he watched the pair. It was adorable, almost unbearably so, and it warmed his heart. Especially when he glanced over and saw the look of utter joy on James’ face at the sight of his brother so happy and clearly in love.

"You wound me, Thomas. This is a serious matter and you're laughing. Honestly, Rosie, I might have to divorce you right here." Amelie faked tears, fanning at her face.

"Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get the fuck over it." Ambrose chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"My Christian ears- Did you just say fuck?!" Amelie pressed a hand to her chest, genuinely a little surprised. She'd never heard Ambrose swear this much.

“Ambrose has quite a mouth on him,” James said, resting his arm on the back of Thomas’ chair and absently playing with the ends of the submissive’s hair. “Didn’t you know?”

"Does he, now?" Amelie asked with an amused expression, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't, actually, know that my good little submissive had such a dirty mouth on him. I'm learning all kinds of things today."

"Oops," Ambrose said with a shit-eating grin, giggling softly.

“James is one to talk,” Thomas laughed, tangling his fingers with James’ hand that rested over his shoulder. “I’d never heard so many creative curse words come out of one person’s mouth until the first time James got really stressed about school and then the power went out and he couldn’t print his paper.”

"I mean, James was where I originally picked up all of my swearing, so that makes sense." Ambrose smiled at the memory, closing his eyes. "When I was really little, he used to teach me and Kika all kinds of swear words. One time, I was probably four, I said 'shit' in church and I thought Father was going to have an aneurysm."

"Oh my God, what was Ambrose like as a kid?" Amelie could definitely imagine an angsty preteen Ambrose or a cowboy-obsessed ten-year-old Ambrose. From all the pictures she had seen, he had been an... interesting child.

“He was so strange,” James laughed, his tone fond. “He was definitely an odd one but extremely loveable. He was so sweet and kind.”

"He hasn't changed, much, then. All jokes aside, your brother is one of the greatest blessings I've ever gotten and I am so, so thankful for him." Amelie sighed happily, leaning over to kiss the top of Ambrose's head.

"Oh my God," Ambrose whispered, feeling tears start to sting at his eyes. "You're so- Miss!" He gasped, starting to cry a little. Fuck, he was so emotional.

Thomas smiled softly, shifting a little closer and resting his head on James’ shoulder. The sight of Ambrose’ tears made Thomas tear up a bit, his own emotions already tightly strung and easily set off at any second.

"While Ambrose gets all emotional, what's the ETA on dessert? My body requires sugary baked good every day or else I'll die. Or something." Amelie snorted, looking over at Thomas with a small smile.

"Miss? I learned my lesson about lying. Can I sit at the table again?" Ambrose asked quietly, wiping his cheeks.

Amelie sighed, leaning down to kiss Ambrose softly. "Go ahead."

“The pie should be done any minute,” Thomas said, biting the inside of his cheek to stop his own tears before standing. “I’ll go get it.”

"Need any help?" Ambrose didn't wait for an answer before getting up and following Thomas to the kitchen. "Are you okay? Your whole mood just kind of changed."

“I’m fine,” Thomas said, giving her a small smile and rubbing his eyes. “I’m just stressed out and seeing Ambrose cry just set me over the edge. I’m fine I promise.”

"I just wanted to check. You can talk to me if you need to." Amelie smiled sympathetically, tilting her head to the side.

“I’m fine,” Thomas said, taking the pie out of the oven just as the timer went off.

"As long as you're sure." Amelie sighed softly, crossing her arms. She walked back into the dining room, letting Thomas take care of the pie as he seemed pretty capable.

Thomas rested the pie down on the center of the table before gathering up the dirty dishes to take into the kitchen, clearing room for James to lay out clean dessert plates and forks that’s had been resting in the side table in the corner of the room. Thomas returned from the kitchen with a knife, handing it to James as he sat down.

"You didn't have to clean up by yourself. I could have helped you." Ambrose frowned, furrowing his brows. "But the pie smells absolutely amazing. If it tastes as half as good as it smells... Well, you're not exactly going to have leftovers." He grinned, feeling his stomach rumble despite the fact he had just eaten.

“It’s fine, you’re a guest you should just sit and enjoy,” Thomas said, picking up a plate as James started cutting up the pie. He handed Amelie and Ambrose their plates of pie before serving James and himself

"No, but I feel like I should be more helpful." Ambrose shook his head, looking down at his lap. "You shouldn't feel like you have to wait on us."

“You’re our guests, Ambrose,” Thomas said gently. “You should just relax and enjoy.”

The boy frowned but didn't push it any further. He took a small bite, groaning softly. "That's absolutely amazing. You're a wizard, Thomas."

“Thank you,” Thomas smiled, taking a small bite of his pie. “It’s my mother’s recipe.”

"Well, in that case, tell your mother that she makes the best pies. Possibly ever. Sorry, miss, but as good as your various baked goods are, they don't even come close to this." Ambrose said with a grin, taking another bite.

Thomas swallowed, biting his lip and looking down at his lap as a weight settled into his stomach. He set down his fork, no longer hungry.

"Oh my God. I'm sorry." Ambrose whispered, covering his mouth. Thomas was in the same position James was, unable to keep in contact with his family. "I'm an idiot. I'm an actual fucking idiot. Thomas, I'm so sorry."

“It’s fine,” Thomas said softly, pushing his chair back and standing. “Excuse me for a moment.” He left the dining room before anyone could say anything, heading down the hall quickly. His footsteps heavy as he moved quickly followed by the sound of the bathroom door shutting.

"Jamie, should I- Should I go and say something to him?" Ambrose asked quietly, looking over at his brother with wide eyes. "I didn't mean to upset him, I promise."

"You have to be more thoughtful about the things you say before you say them." Amelie reminded him softly, biting her lip.

“Give him a minute,” James said softly. “He knows you didn’t mean to hurt him, Ambrose. His mother is just a sore spot for him. His father has banned his mother from contacting him and it’s been hard for Thomas. He and his mother are very close.”

Ambrose sighed, shaking his head. "I wasn't thinking. I mean... Between the two of us, you got the worse deal with mother and father. They won't shoot me on sight if I step foot on the property, and I forget that you two left a lot behind."

“We did,” James said, sighing softly and glancing down the hall towards the bathroom. “It was what needed to be done. But it is hard.”

"I could try and help to patch things up. I could get together with Frances and we could talk to father together." Ambrose offered, biting his lip. Honestly, he missed having James at Christmas.

“He’s not going to listen, Ambrose,” James said softly, fiddling with his cuff. “Don’t get yourself involved and get in his bad books.”

"I mean, it's worth a shot. And I'm not scared of him anymore, Jamie. What's the worst that can happen? He can't make me go back to him and he can't take my trust fund." Ambrose protested, shaking his head.

“I don’t want you to be barred from contact with our siblings and mother as well, Ambrose,” James said, tone and gaze firm as he watched his brother.

"I'm willing to get shunned if it means that there's a chance that you might be able to come to a dinner once in a while. Jamie, I don't know why you're so dead set against this." Ambrose refused to let it go, setting down his fork and crossing his arms.

“Because our father is a spiteful man and will never be swayed in his opinion that I am a terrible dominant,” James said, jaw clenching slightly. “Because I dot need you fighting my battles for me, Ambrose.”

"People change, James, and I don't think that you're seeing the bigger picture. If I can manage to convince him, you could be a part of the family again!" Ambrose frowned, watching James' face closely.

“He isn’t going to change his mind, Ambrose,” James said, pushing his plate back a bit. “And Thomas’ father most definitely won’t. Excuse me for a minute I’m going to go check on my submissive.”

"Why do you talk to me like that? Like I'm a child?" Ambrose furrowed his brows, narrowing his eyes. "I don't know if it's because I'm younger or because I'm a sub, but it needs to fucking stop. I'm a goddamn adult, and you don't have to speak slowly like I'm fucking stupid."

“I’m speaking slowly because I’m upset, Ambrose,” James said, standing. “And I don’t want to lose my temper and fight with you because I love you and I’ve missed you. But sometimes your childish optimism is exhausting and you need to learn that the everything isn’t going to end okay just because you want it to. Our father isn’t going to suddenly change his decades held beliefs on submissives just because you talk to him. He’s not going to listen to you, Ambrose, because he believes your thoughts and opinions aren’t worth shit.”

"Sometimes your ridiculous levels of pessimism are exhausting, too. Things can change. People can change. You, of all people, changed! You treat Thomas so much better now than you did when you first got together. You know, sometimes it's easier to make people see your point of view when you aren't being a dick." Ambrose huffed, the only thing keeping him sitting being Amelie's hand resting on his knee. " I just don't know why you're so cynical about everything. You sound like fucking Kika in her emo slam poetry phase."

“I know our father better than you do, Ambrose,” James said, running a hand through his hair. “And I know Thomas’ father. Even if there is a chance ours may change his mind, Thomas’ never will and I’m not putting him in a situation where I get to see my family and he doesn’t. He will force himself to pretend to be happy and okay because he wants me to be happy but he’ll be miserable. He was far closer to his mother than I was to ours and it hurts him so much to not be able to see her. I refuse to be put in a situation where I’d be rubbing it in his face that I get to see mine.”

"What about Taylor and Reuben? Reuben doesn't recognize you. Taylor's never even said your name. For fuck's sake, Lizzie barely knows who we're talking about when we say your name. Don't you want them to know who you are?" Ambrose said quietly, looking down at his lap. He didn't want to fight, but things like this really upset him. "And we can't tell them because of Father's stupid rule. It's worth trying, Jamie. The only way anything will ever change for subs in any systemic, meaningful way is if people start small."

“Of course I want them to know me, Ambrose. Of course, I want to be in their lives but my top priority is my submissive,” James said, glancing down the hall. The bathroom door was still firmly shut. “Thomas’ happiness is my number one priority and he wouldn’t be happy. Not really. He’d say he was happy for me being able to see my family and on some level he would be but he’d also be miserable. I won’t do that to him.”

"Lizzie and Sarah are both betrothed. Taylor is barely out of diapers and Father is already trying to find someone to marry him off too," Ambrose said softly, taking a drink of water. "I just- I don't know. I don't want to have to have a relationship with you in secret." He sighed, deciding that it was best to just drop it. Unmovable object, to quote himself.

"All I'm going to say is that I can see where both of you are coming from." Amelie pinched the bridge of her nose, silently mourning over their lost dinner.

“Look, Ambrose, we’ll talk about this another time, okay? When I’m not so stressed out from exams and graduation,” James gave Ambrose what he hoped was a gentle smile but he doubted it looked anything other than tense and awkward. “I’m going to check on Thomas. I’ll be right back.”

Ambrose nodded, leaning against Amelie as he watched his older brother walk away. "I'm sorry I'm stupid, miss." He whined, pressing his face into his dominant's shoulder. "I didn't mean to make a mess of things."

"You're not stupid, Ambrose, you're very smart and I love you very much. Sometimes, though, you just have to be more respectful and remember to think about your words." Amelie's voice was soft and measured as she spoke, brushing her hand through Ambrose's hair.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I love you too, Ambrose," James said softly, looking down at his brother. "And I missed you so much. I'm so glad we live in the same city and I can see you.”_
> 
> _Amelie watched the two of them with a small smile, brushing back Ambrose's hair. "And, Ambrose, before you even ask, you can see James any time you want. Just send me a text or something before you go anywhere so I don't worry. You never have to ask permission."_

“Thomas?” James said, knocking on the bathroom door. “Are you okay, love?”

“I’m fine, sir,” Thomas called back, his voice sounding a little shaky but mostly okay. A second later the lock clicked and the door opened. Thomas’ eyes were a bit red and cheeks a bit moist from tears. James instantly pulled him into a hug, rubbing the submissive’s back gently. “I’m fine, sir.”

“Shh, Thomas,” James whispered, squeezing him tight. “I need a hug too.”

“Okay, sir,” Thomas said, wrapping his arms around James and hugging him tight. They stayed like that for a while before pulling back. James gently brushed the tears off of Thomas’ face before taking his hand and leading him back to the dining room.

Amelie held Ambrose for quite a while, rubbing his shoulder and kissing the top of his head periodically. She didn't know what else to do, and she really did want him to drop. "Ambrose, it's alright. Really. We've both made missteps tonight and we just have to learn from our mistakes. We can do this. We can have a good relationship with James and Thomas."

"I shouldn't have said all of that. I shouldn't have said any of that. Why am I so stupid?" Ambrose whispered, clinging to Amelie like a teddy bear.

“Ambrose?” Thomas said softly from the doorway. His hand was held tight in James’, cheeks dry and eyes no longer red. He went back over to the table, sitting down across from Ambrose and Amelie, pulling James down beside him. “Are you okay?”

"I guess." Ambrose shrugged, pulling away from Amelie with a soft sniffle. "I'm sorry. Again. To both of you. Hell, to all of you. I'm sorry I'm stupid." He sighed, hiding his behind his hand. "Maybe Father was right all along. Maybe I am too emotional and stupid to make decisions. I can't even sit through a goddamn dinner without there being a catastrophe."

“You’re not stupid, Ambrose,” Thomas said gently, reaching across the table to rest a hand on Ambrose’s arm. “And being emotional isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Emotions are what drive us as humans.”

"He's right, you know. You're very, very smart, Ambrose." Amelie said softly, smiling a bit. "My smart boy. My gorgeous, smart boy."

“Come, finish your pie,” Thomas said, pushing the plate towards Ambrose a bit. “It would be a shame to waste it.”

Even though Thomas wasn't a dominant, it was a little bit reassuring to be told what to do by somebody and it cheered him up quite a bit. "My original point still stands, though. This is absolutely delicious."

“Thank you,” Thomas said softly, picking up his fork and eating a small bite of his own pie.

Dessert was much less eventful after that, just polite conversation and soft laughter. When Amelie finished, she just sort of sat there, not entirely sure what to do. Fuck her and the fact she always ate too fast.

“Would you like some tea? Coffee?” Thomas asked, picking at his pie slowly, one hand holding James’ under the table.

"Oh, I'm fine. Water is fine. Even though caffeine doesn't really affect me anymore, I still get anxious about too much coffee in the evenings." Amelie shrugged, taking a sip of her water. "So, can Ambrose be expecting any nieces or nephews any time soon?" Amelie wiggled her eyebrows goofily, grinning.

James almost choked on his pie as Thomas spilt a bit of the water he was pouring. “Oh, um, no,” James said, swallowing hard. “Not yet. We’re both too busy to think about kids right now.”

Amelie watched the two of them and couldn't help but giggle softly. "That's fair. I don't know if me and Ambrose will ever have kids, honestly."

“You don’t want kids?” Thomas asked, sitting back down and eating another small bite of his pie.

"Amelie has a lot of ambitions," Ambrose said quickly, not wanting to start a fight or make things tense again. He and Amelie had had a conversation about this, once, but Ambrose hadn't contributed much.

“Those things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Thomas pointed out softly. “Do you want kids, Ambrose?”

Ambrose gave Thomas a mortified look, shaking his head ever so slightly. "I want what Amelie wants, because I want my dominant to be happy." He shrugged, biting his lip. Fuck.

"That sounds like a non-answer if I've ever heard one," Thomas muttered under his breath, pushing a piece of pie crust around his plate.

"Thomas, can you please just fucking drop it? Yes, I want kids. I want to be a dad and I want to hear the pitter-patter of little feet in our fucking apartment. But that doesn't matter, because it isn't my place to want things." Ambrose got loud all of the sudden, dropping his fork and crossing his arms.   
  
Amelie frowned, placing a delicate hand on Ambrose's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?"   
  
"Because it wouldn't have fucking mattered? Because you're just like James, but you're worse! I could never convince you because you never change your mind about anything!" Ambrose shouted, standing up and storming off to that fucking bathroom.

"Oh," Thomas breathed, resting his own fork down as his hands began to tremble slightly. His gaze darted between Amelie and James, eyes wide and filled with a bit fear and anxiety. Dominants generally didn't take kindly to having their submissives upset by outside forces. And Thomas' probing could have been seen like him questioning Amelie's authority over her submissive and relationship. Something dominants definitely didn't like. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- I- I'm sorry, Ms White.”

"Thomas, I-" Amelie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She didn't really have the patience to talk to Thomas in a way that wouldn't scare him. Actually, she didn't know if she wanted to. She was pretty mad at him. This entire night had been a fucking disaster. As pissed off as she was at Thomas for pushing Ambrose so much, she was much more upset with herself.

"Amelie," James said, resting a hand on Thomas' shoulder to stop his anxious rambling. "Why don't you go find your submissive and make sure he's okay? I'll deal with Thomas."

"Good idea," Amelie said shortly, wiping her hands on her napkin before standing and half-storming off to join Ambrose. "Darling? Are you alright?" She asked quietly, knocking on the door.   
  
"Yes, miss," Ambrose whispered, sounding for sure like he had been crying. "I'm sorry for speaking to you like that. For being so disrespectful." He opened the door for his dominant, who quickly embraced him.   
  
"Ambrose, you should always feel like you can talk to me about the things you want. Not all of my opinions are as steadfast as they are as my opinions on criminal justice reform." Amelie let out a nervous laugh, pulling back. "We can talk about this when we get home, alright? I love you, Ambrose."

"Thomas," James said softly, turning to his submissive. He could see the signs of Thomas' distress and imminent drop written all over the submissive's face. James ran his fingers gently through Thomas' hair, pushing his chair back slightly. "Kneel for me, love."    
  
"Yes, sir," Thomas whispered, sounding relieved. He slid out his chair to kneel between in front of James, settling comfortably between the dominant's legs and resting his head on James' knee. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to upset them."    
  
"I know, Thomas," James said softly, running his fingers through Thomas' hair. "But you too need to think before speaking sometimes, yeah? I know you meant nothing malicious by your words but Amelie and Ambrose are young and still figuring out their relationship."   
  
"I know, sir," Thomas whispered, chewing on his bottom lip. "I'm sorry. What will my punishment be, sir?"   
  
"Apologise to Amelie and Ambrose," James said softly, tilting Thomas' head up so he could look the submissive in the eye. He didn't feel that Thomas deserved a punishment but he knew his husband and knew that sometimes the only way Thomas would feel better about things was to receive one. "And we will deal with a punishment later once they've left if you still feel like you deserve one."    
  
"Yes, sir," Thomas whispered, resting his head back on James' knee to wait for Amelie and Ambrose to return.

Amelie sighed, pressing a kiss to Ambrose's forehead before taking his hand. "We can't just stay here all evening. I just- Thomas had no right-" She cut herself off with a sigh, closing her eyes. "It's just upsetting. He humiliated me. He made me feel like I didn't know the first thing about you." She shook her head and frowned, leading Ambrose back to the dining room.   
  
Amelie sat, while Ambrose elected to kneel, apparently over the idea of being in the hot seat. "I'm sorry for causing a fuss." He said quietly, not entirely sure if anyone could hear him at all.

"You're fine, Ambrose," James said, still running his fingers gently through Thomas' hair to keep the submissive calm and away from dropping. "Thomas was out of line and has something he wants to say."   
  
Thomas took a deep breath before standing and turning to Amelie and Ambrose, electing to look at his feet instead of the couple as he spoke softly, "I'm sorry for speaking of things that aren't my business to pry into, Ms White. And I'm sorry for upsetting your submissive. You are well within your rights to request a punishment and I will accept anything that you wish."

"You're forgiven, Thomas." Amelie nodded, glancing down at Ambrose. "And this has all been a lot for Ambrose, so it's not entirely your fault. Between seeing James for the first time in years and all of my stress- it's all started to take a toll on him." She paused, watching Thomas's face. "That's not necessary. Just don't do it again, alright?"

"Yes, Ms White," Thomas nodded, glancing over at James who nodded and gestured for Thomas to kneel again, which he did gladly.

Amelie considered correcting Thomas but didn't want to upset him more. "So. How's school going?" She asked with a shrug, figuring a little bit of friendly conversation would help with easing all the tension in the room.

"Intense," James said, gently scratching Thomas' scalp. "We graduate soon and are working on final papers and studying for exams. It's been a lot. How has your year been going?"

"Things have been... Kind of crazy. It's needless to say that a lot of things in my life have changed. Keeping this one out of trouble is a full-time job, let alone being a student." Amelie glanced lovingly down at Ambrose before looking back up at James.

"I'm sure," James said, picking up a piece of pie crust and holding it out for Thomas to eat. The submissive do so without comment, pressing a gentle kiss to James' fingers in thanks. "What're you studying?"

"I'm a double major, actually. Poly-sci and American History. It definitely keeps me busy. At the moment, I'm trying to pick an internship for the summer. May as well get ahead, right?" Amelie shrugged, offering Ambrose his glass of water.

"Definitely," James nodded. "We didn't do internships after our first year of university - we decided to visit Thomas' family in France instead. Thomas is currently finding it very difficult to find an internship, no one wants a submissive political intern.”

"Hm." Amelie tilted her head to the side, taking a pad of paper and a pen out of her purse. "Call this number, tell whoever answered that Graham White's daughter is calling in his favor. As long as the governor's office is okay? Might not be anything spectacular, but it's something." She handed James the paper, grinning.

James felt Thomas stiffen and gently rested a hand on top of his head to settle him. He took the paper and rested it down on the table. "Thank you, Amelie. That will be very helpful."

"It's the least I can do. Discrimination is horseshit and I have the ability to help, so help I will." Amelie nodded, smiling. "Pulling strings is what I do best. Even though I'm the baby, I was the one that Papa groomed for politics." She shrugged, taking a leftover slice of pie for herself.

"A lot of the connections I have in politics are gone now so thanks," James gave her a smile, feeding Thomas another piece of pie before grabbing his water and handing it down to him.    
  
"Thank you, sir," Thomas whispered, taking the water and sipping it slowly.

Ambrose winced at the reminder, sighing softly, This entire situation was fucked. He could have a relationship with James, but no one could know about it. James could call Ambrose his brother, but Ambrose couldn't do the same anywhere that people could hear. It was upsetting and a whole load of horseshit. "Jamie? I just- I love you. And I missed you. A lot." He sighed, shaking his head.

"I love you too, Ambrose," James said softly, looking down at his brother. "And I missed you so much. I'm so glad we live in the same city and I can see you.”

Amelie watched the two of them with a small smile, brushing back Ambrose's hair. "And, Ambrose, before you even ask, you can see James any time you want. Just send me a text or something before you go anywhere so I don't worry. You never have to ask permission."   
  
Ambrose grinned up at Amelie, then looked nervously up at James. "That's not- That's not a problem, right?" He asked quietly, glancing down at the floor. "You're going to want to see me?"

"Of course I am," James said, throat growing tight with unshed tears. "I'm really busy with school right now so I don't know how much free time I'll have for the next couple weeks but as soon as I am finished with exams and papers we can hang out tons before my summer internship starts."

"I know that you're busy, but I just... I know that I'm your annoying little brother but I really, really want to get to see you after all this time. You've missed three years of angst." Ambrose let out a watery puff of breath that was barely passable as a sad little laugh, feeling tears start to pull at his eyes.

"I want to hear all about what you've been up to for the past few years," James said, fingers carding through Thomas' hair gently. "You are always welcome in our home, Ambrose."

"It's nothing all that interesting. I mean, I got suspended for calling my Health teacher a fucking piece of shit and also maybe hitting him, but that was the only really big thing that happened." Ambrose shrugged but chuckled softly at the memory.

"I want to hear it all," James said, smiling fondly at his brother. "No matter how boring you think it is.”

"Well, we have to start somewhere, so we may as well take things back to when I stopped talking to Father for six months after you two got into that fight. I swear to God, I didn't say a fucking word to him." Ambrose grinned, but then winced. "Needless to say that the fallout was pretty goddamn painful, but it was worth it to piss him off."

"Ambrose," James sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "I don't know why you antagonise him. It only ever leads to trouble."

"I don't do it all the time. Most of the time, I'm the quiet, sweet, obedient sub he wants me to be." Ambrose snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Still," James said softly. "I don't like the idea of you hurting. Especially because of me."

"Jamie- It wasn't because of you. It was inspired by you. Honestly, getting hit around a little isn't the worst thing in the world." Ambrose shrugged, his voice kind of quiet. "I'm kind of used to it from him."

"It doesn't make it right," James said, voice tight with emotion. "Or okay. You shouldn't be used to that, Ambrose.”

"Regardless of whether I should be used to it, I am. It barely even bothers me anymore." Ambrose couldn't bring himself to look at his brother, focusing on the floor. Honestly, he didn't want to let on to James how often of an occurrence it was, even now that he was Amelie's.

"Ambrose, I-" James sighed, looking down and running his fingers through Thomas' hair. The submissive looked up at him, expression open and trusting and filled with love. "I'm sorry."

"It's usually my fault. I antagonize him on purpose. I'm a piece of shit, James." Ambrose sighed softly, finally looking up at James.    
  
"Ambrose, I've told you not to talk like that about yourself." Amelie frowned, brows furrowed.

"You're not a piece of shit, Ambrose," James said firmly. "And whether you antagonise him or not he should never hurt you. It is not okay, under any circumstances."

"James, it's not a big deal anymore. There's no reason to be upset about it. That's just the way it is. That's the way it's always been, and I'm going to be putting up with it until he dies." Ambrose huffed, sighing quietly.

James sighed and let it go, not wanting to fight anymore. He scooped up the last bit of pie off his plate and fed it to Thomas.

Amelie smiled nervously, resting her hand on the top of Ambrose's head. "You're a very good boy, Ambrose, and, for the fucking record, the best sub in the world."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's lots of French in this chapter. Probably really bad French (at least all the French I, Avi aka isnonstop, did is definitely bad). If you are on a desktop and hover over the French parts the English translation comes up. If you're not on mobile I have linked to the scene with the text in English instead in the first section of French text and also at the end.

"May I clean up now, sir?" Thomas asked softly, looking up at James. He was a lot more settled after spending the last little while on kneeling. James nodded, pulling Thomas up for a kiss before the submissive stepped away to begin gathering up the dirty dishes from the table.

"Here, let me help." Ambrose said softly, getting up as well. "I ate your food, I used your bathroom, this is the least I can do." He hummed, picking up everyone's plates. "I can do the dishes, if that would help."

"We have a dishwasher, but thanks," Thomas said softly, carrying the pile of dishes into the kitchen and resting them down on the counter next to said dishwasher.

"I'm sorry about the way I reacted earlier. I shouldn't have yelled at you." Ambrose said with a soft sigh, following Thomas to the kitchen. "I'm just- How do you talk to your dom about things you want, when people have been telling you that your opinions don't matter for your entire life?"

"It's hard," Thomas whispered, opening the dishwasher and filling it up methodically. "But relationships only work if you communicate. And it doesn't seem like Amelie will be upset with you for voicing your opinions."

"But I- It is. It's so hard. I know that she wouldn't be upset but I'm so scared to make her mad that it's almost not worth it. What if she- What if she decides that I'm not good enough and she divorces me and sends me back to my father?" Ambrose sighed softly, feeling tears start to well up in his eyes.

"She won't do that," Thomas said, putting down the plate and stepping over to pull Ambrose into a hug. "She loves you, Ambrose, it's so clear in the way she looks at you and interacts with you. She's not going to divorce you or send you back to your father."

"But what if she doesn't? What if she's just playing around and she's going to get sick of having an awful, disobedient sub who's stupid and opinionated and acts out all the goddamn time?" Ambrose whispered, clinging to Thomas and crying quietly.

Thomas hugged him back tight, knowing exactly how Ambrose was feeling. He’d thought the exact same things when he and James had first gotten married and knew how hard it was to unlearn the things he’d grown up believing. “I know it’s hard, Ambrose. I felt exactly the same way when I first married your brother. And it takes time to get to a place where you can just trust that she loves you. It’s hard but you’ll get there I promise.”

"But James- He's not like Amelie. James is more upfront about his feelings, but Amelie- She can be kind of secretive about how she really feels. And I really, really love her. I don't want to lose her. Being sent back to Father wouldn't even be the worst part. It would be having gotten a sample of what she's like and then being ripped away. I'm sorry- You don't care about this. You don't care about any of this." Ambrose sighed, pulling back and wiping his eyes.

“I do care, Ambrose,” Thomas said softly, reaching out and resting a hand on the younger submissive’s shoulder. “I care very much. You’re my brother now and I care about your happiness.” He rested a hand on Ambrose’s cheek. “I know it’s hard, Ambrose. I went through the same thoughts and doubts and I promise you the only way to stop feeling this way is to talk to Amelie.

"What if she doesn't want to talk to me? What if she doesn't react badly, but she doesn't react at all? What if she just doesn't care? Oh my God, Thomas." Ambrose was hyperventilating for some reason, and it seemed like the walls were closing in on him. "Thomas, what the fuck. What the fuck is happening." He'd never been anxious before, but for some reason it felt like the entire world was going to come crashing down around him.  
  
“It’s a panic attack,” Thomas said gently, cupping Ambrose’s cheeks. “And probably going to end up as a panic attack induced drop if we’re not careful. A dom will help you calm down easier - do you want me to call James or Amelie?”

"James. James- I can't see her right now. I can't- I can't bear to see her disappointed in me. Please get me James." Ambrose said softly, sitting against the counter and crossing his arms, kind of curling in on himself.  
  
“Okay,” Thomas said softly, leaving the kitchen and going to find James and Amelie. They were sat in the living room, talking about school. “Sir?”  
  
“Yes, Thomas?” James said, looking over at him with a smile.  
  
“Can you come help me with something in the kitchen?” Thomas asked, hands crossed behind his back so they couldn’t see how they trembled.  
  
“Sure,” James stood. “I’ll be right back, Amelie.”  
  
Amelie watched them go, a little bit confused. It wasn't that out of the ordinary. Thomas and Ambrose probably just needed to help figuring out something how to fix something or lifting something heavy.  
  
"Jamie." Ambrose whispered, looking up at his brother. Christ on a goddamn cracker, he was fucking stupid.  
  
“Oh, Ambrose,” James said, kneeling down in front of him.  
  
“He’s having a panic attack,” Thomas said softly, going over to the fridge and getting Ambrose a cool glass of water.  
  
"Jamie, why am I so awful? I'm the worst." Ambrose whined, wrapping his arms tightly around James. "I just- I'm an awful sub and a worse person and I don't know how to get better."  
  
“Ambrose, you’re neither of those things,” James said, hugging Ambrose tight. “I need you to slow down your breathing okay? Try to match your breaths with mine.”  
  
Ambrose tried. He really did. He took a couple deep breaths, but it didn't do much to keep another round of sobs from coming on. "I'm so awful. I don't- I doubt that she even likes me, you know? I talk back and I'm disrespectful and disobedient and you- you said so yourself. I have a dirty mouth. Nobody wants a sub that swears like a fucking sailor-"  
  
“Ambrose,” James cut him off, cupping the submissive’s cheeks and making Ambrose look at him. “Listen to me, you’re not awful. So you curse? So what? Everyone curses! You’re a wonderful sub and a wonderful brother and a wonderful person. Focus on me okay? Don’t listen to those thoughts, just listen to my voice and breathe with me okay? I’m going to count and I want you to breathe in while I do. Ready? One, two, three.”  
  
"Yes, sir." Ambrose's voice was quiet and he took a shaky breath, closing his eyes. Then he heard Amelie laugh from the living room. She was probably on her phone, or maybe she was laughing at him. The thought made everything so much worse. "I'm gonna- I'm gonna be sick, I-" He stood, running over to the trashcan and retching into it.  
  
Thomas rushed over, resting a hand on Ambrose's back and rubbing it gently, speaking softly to the submissive. "Ambrose, can I call Amelie? She'll be able to help you - far better than James and I can. Please?"  
  
"No! No, you can't. She'll be mad at me." Ambrose forced out, shaking his head. "Please don't. Please. She'll be so disappointed in me and she'll- She won't want me if she sees me like this."  
  
“She won’t be mad or disappointed,” Thomas said, running Ambrose’ back gently. “And she’ll be able to help. She’s your dom and you will naturally respond best to her. And she loves you Ambrose. She’ll want to help.”  
  
"Help with what?" Amelie asked softly, stepping toward Ambrose with her arm extended. "Love, can I touch you?" Her voice was quiet and gentle and she gently placed her hand on her submissive's shoulder. She looked at James anxiously, biting her lip. "How do I...?" She mouthed, glancing back to Ambrose. She'd never dealt with a submissive dropping before.  
  
“Touch is important,” James said softly, pulling Thomas close as his submissive stepped over to him. “And talk to him - quietly. He needs to regulate his breathing or he’s going to pass out so try to get him to match your breaths.”  
  
Amelie nodded, pulling Ambrose close. "Baby, baby. I need you to breathe. Listen to my heartbeat, baby boy. Listen to me and try and breathe." She rubbed the boy's back, sighing softly. "I love you, Ambrose. I love you so much. My good boy."  
  
"Miss, I- I don't know what's wrong, I just-" Ambrose gasped, doing his best to focus on breathing. "It's hard." He sniffled, trying his damndest to stop crying. It didn't really work.  
  
“Sir,” Thomas whispered, turning and pressing his face into James’ neck. He was trembling slightly and James wrapped his arms around the submissive, holding him close. “Should we leave them alone?”

“Yeah,” James said softly. “Let’s go to the living room.”  
  
"No, no. Please don't go." Amelie whispered, shaking her head. "I don't know the first thing about this and I'm scared." Her voice was hardly above a breath and there were tears welled up in her eyes.  
  
“Okay,” James said, rubbing Thomas’ back as he watched the couple. “You’re doing well, Amelie. Just keep talking to him, help get his breathing under control first.”  
  
Amelie nodded, swallowing thickly. "My perfect baby boy. Ambrose, I've said this once and I'll say it again. I'm almost glad that your father arranged our marriage because if he hadn't, I never would have had you in my life. I love you, Rosie, and nothing is going to change that. And I'm terrified I'm going to mess this up."  
  
It took him a second, but Ambrose started to relax a little. "I'm sorry I'm so melodramatic, miss, I just got scared that maybe- maybe you're going to get rid of me."  
  
"I would never- Ambrose, if I was going to get rid of you, I wouldn't have been arguing with James about the fact you're the best sub in the world." Amelie shook her head, swallowing thickly. "And I'm sure that James and Thomas with me when I say that you're amazing, baby boy."  
  
“Here,” Thomas said, holding out a glass of water to Ambrose. “You should drink something, Ambrose. To ward off a headache.”  
  
"Yes, sir." Ambrose said softly, taking the glass and downing it all at once. He hadn't realized how thirsty he had been. "Thank you, sir."  
  
Thomas winced at the address, but just nodded and went back over to James, leaning against his dominant’s chest, body tense.  
  
"Sorry, sir- I mean. I'm sorry." Ambrose sighed, hiding his face in Amelie's chest. "I'm sorry I'm stupid."  
  
“You’re not stupid,” James said, hugging Thomas tight. “You’re overwhelmed and dropping. Focus on your domme, Ambrose.”  
  
"Yes, sir." Ambrose said softly, tucking his head into the part of Amelie's neck where it joined with her shoulder.  
  
"My good boy. My good, smart, beautiful boy." Amelie hummed, rubbing tiny circles on her submissive's back. "Isn't that right, Ambrose? Tell me that you're a good boy."  
  
"I'm not. I'm bad." He whispered, shaking his head. "I'm terrible. I'm not good enough for you, miss."  
  
Amelie made a strained noise, shaking her head. "You're not. Don't say that." Her voice was shaky and, if Ambrose didn't know better, he would think that she was going to cry.  
  
“Ambrose, don’t listen to those negative thoughts,” James said, heart breaking for how distraught his little brother was. And worried for his own submissive who was both tense and trembling in his arms. “They’re lies. All of them.”  
  
"It's hard, sir." Ambrose's voice was barely even audible, clinging to Amelie's dress. "And I- I can't help it." He sighed, feeling his dominant's arms tighten around him.  
  
"Just- Don't say anything, love. Just listen to me?" Amelie smiled nervously down at him, kissing the top of his head. "My perfect, sweet little Ambrose. I love you so much."  
  
"Sir?" Thomas whispered, voice shaky. Thomas didn’t expect for Ambrose’s distress to affect him as much as it did. Even though Thomas had been on edge and easily triggered for the past month or so. "Sir, I- I-"  
  
"Shh, Thomas," James whispered, kissing the submissive's forehead. "Kneel for me, darling."  
  
"Yes, sir," Thomas whispered, sliding down to his knees and resting his head against James' leg.  
  
"Good boy," James said gently, running his fingers through Thomas' hair.  
  
"Are you okay, Thomas?" Ambrose asked softly, pulling away from Amelie a bit so he could turn and look at the other submissive. "I don't- I didn't mean to upset anyone."  
  
"I'm fine," Thomas said, not moving his head from where it was pressed against James' leg.  
  
"Thomas is very easy to set off lately," James explained softly. "All the stress from school and stuff is keeping him right on the edge of dropping. Anything can set him off, Ambrose. It's not your fault. Yesterday he nearly dropped when his pen ran out of ink and he couldn't find another one."  
  
"Oh." Was all Ambrose said, retreating into Amelie's embrace once more. It took him a solid ten minutes, but he really did start to get better. He pulled away from his domme entirely, even though he kind of missed the warmth. He looked up and scanned her face, a little bit confused when he saw her cheeks, wet with tears.  
  
"I- you scared me, Ambrose. I love you. I love you so, so much and when you do things like that sometimes it makes me think that you feel like you're trapped." Amelie wiped under her eyes and make herself smile, straightening her back. That was the Amelie he knew.  
  
"Maybe we should move to the living room," James suggested lightly, hand resting gently on Thomas' head. "Where everyone can be more comfortable."  
  
"I think that that's a great idea." Amelie nodded, placing her hand on Ambrose's lower back so she could lead him. She took a seat on the couch, while Ambrose retrieved his cushion from dinner and kneeled. Honestly, she didn't blame him. "Thank you again, for having us. Dinner was fantastic."  
  
“Thank you for coming,” James said as Thomas grabbed his favourite kneeling cushion from the living room basket and knelt by James’ side.  
  
"I'll admit that I was pretty nervous. I didn't really know what you two were going to be like, and neither did Ambrose, really. But you two are absolutely wonderful people." Amelie nodded, smiling softly. Her hand kept working through Ambrose's hair, something that visibily soothed the submissive.

“I was very nervous about meeting you as well,” James admitted. “I was worried about my father’s choice in dominant for Ambrose but you’re so much more wonderful than I could have imagined.”  
  
"You can thank my mother for that. She's extremely liberal, and she's the one that taught me about all of this." Amelie waved her hand around vaguely, nodding. "Not to say that my father is terrible, but he's pretty traditional and I would probably be a much worse dominant without my mother's influence."  
  
“Well I’d love to meet her one day and thank her,” James said, scratching behind Thomas’ ear, making the submissive hum happily, sounding a lot like the purring coming from the other side of the couch.  
  
Amelie's eyes fell to a furry black mass, sleeping a couple feet away. "Oh my God, is that a kitty?! Can I-" She was suddenly filled with an almost puppyish excitement, biting her lip.  
  
“Yes of course,” James said as Liberty woke from the noise and went straight to Thomas. The cat was always in sync with Thomas’ emotions and would search the submissive out whenever he was upset.  
  
"Oh my God, you're just about the cutest little thing I've ever seen." Amelie gasped, getting down on the floor and rubbing the cat's ears. "What's its name?" She was probably way too excited over a fucking cat, but what did it matter? She wasn't hurting anything.  
  
“Liberty,” Thomas said softly.  
  
"Well, Thomas, Liberty is a very adorable cat." Amelie said softly, smiling nervously at the submissive. She didn't want to come on too strong, especially since Thomas had just been taken down from the brink of drop.  
  
“Thank you,” Thomas whispered, giving her a small smile as Liberty rubbed against his fingers.  
  
"Thomas, I know that it's not my place to say, but you've done great tonight." Amelie nodded, looking at Thomas with warm eyes.

Thomas blushed, looking down at his lap as Liberty climbed into it. “Thank you, miss.”  
  
"I mean it, Thomas. James is very lucky to have a submissive as good as you." Amelie nodded, tilting her head to the side. "Even though we've had some problems tonight, I really am excited to get to know you." She reached out and touched Thomas's shoulder, glancing over to James to see if he reacted negatively.  
  
James just gave her a small smile and nod, fingers still playing with Thomas’ hair gently. The submissive didn’t flinch from the touch but didn’t move into it either, saying softly, “I am too.”  
  
Amelie pulled back with a quiet hum, reaching down to stroke Liberty softly, smiling down at her. She honestly felt kind of guilty about upsetting Thomas, and she wanted to find a genuine way to reconcile with him. ["Je le pense vraiment, Thomas, tu es un très bon soumis et une personne tout aussi merveilleuse."](https://atyourmercyverse.tumblr.com/post/175981842476/french-part-of-chapter-6-of-the-first-page-now) He spoke French, and it was worth a shot.  
  
Thomas looked up, surprised. He smiled shyly at her. ["Merci beaucoup. Toi aussi, Amelie." ](,)  
  
Amelie grinned, giggling softly. ["Pensez-vous que James me déteste? J'ai peur qu'il pense que je suis affreux."](.) Her tone got more serious all of the sudden and she sighed softly.  
  
["Il ne le fait pas. Il peut voir à quel point tu aimes Ambrose,"](.) Thomas said, gently petting Liberty and leaning into James' legs.  
  
["Je sais à quel point c'est important pour Ambrose et je ne peux pas supporter l'idée que le frère d'Ambrose me déteste."](.) Amelie bit her lip, shaking her head.  
  
["Il ne fait pas. J'ai promis,"](.) Thomas reached over and rested a hand on Amelie's arm, smiling gently.  
  
["Merci, Thomas. Pour autant. Tu connais James beaucoup mieux que moi, et honnêtement, je n'aurais aucune idée s'il aime vraiment être autour de moi ou s'il fait semblant juste pour l'amour d'Ambrose."](.) Amelie nodded, leaning into the touch a little.  
  
Thomas laughed, shaking his head and glancing up at his husband before saying, ["James ne prétend pas vraiment aimer les gens. Pour l'amour de tous. S'il ne t'aime pas, tu le sauras." ](.)  
  
Amelie giggled softly, covering her mouth with her hand. ["C'est vraiment bon à savoir. Mais, Thomas? Une autre chose." ](.)  
  
["Oui?"](.) Thomas said, scratching under Liberty's chin.  
  
["Comment puis-je parler à Ambrose? Parfois, il est tout simplement d'accord avec tout ce que j'ai à dire, et cela signifie que nous ne pouvons pas vraiment avoir une conversation."](.) Amelie sighed, glancing back at her submissive.  
  
["Ça va être difficile. Mais vous devrez toujours lui rappeler qu'il ne va pas avoir des ennuis pour ses opinions et ses pensées. Et peut-être que si parler est trop dur, demandez-lui d'écrire des choses dans un cahier ou quelque chose comme ça,"](.) Thomas suggested softly. ["James me l'a fait faire quand nous avons commencé à trier les choses." ](.)  
  
["C'est en fait une très bonne idée. Tu es très intelligent, Thomas. James a de la chance de t'avoir."](.) Amelie praised, smiling softly. She tilted her head to the side, scratching under Liberty's chin. ["Mais comment puis-je le convaincre d'être honnête avec moi? Et s'il ne me croit pas quand je lui dis que je ne vais pas le blesser pour le fait qu'il a des opinions?" ](.)  
  
["Je ne sais pas. Ça va prendre beaucoup de patience et de temps mais je ne sais rien de précis,”](.) Thomas said softly. ["Peut-être commencer petit? avec des décisions alimentaires ou des endroits où vous allez? Les petites choses qui ne vous semblent pas importantes seraient probablement un gros problème pour lui."](.)  
  
["J'ai essayé de lui faire prendre de petites décisions, mais il est devenu anxieux et débordé si facilement." ](.)Amelie looked to Ambrose and felt nothing but guilt, watching the way he was so tense, even talking to James. ["J'aime juste Ambrose, et je ne veux pas faire une erreur terrible. Il mérite tellement mieux que moi."](.)  
  
["Vous comprendrez. vous devez trouver la solution qui fonctionne pour vous et Ambrose. Il a fallu beaucoup de patience et de temps pour que James et moi arrivions à cet endroit. Je suis sûr que vous y arriverez.”](.) Thomas gave her a soft smile.  
  
["Je veux juste qu'il comprenne à quel point je l'aime, tu sais? Je n'ai aucune idée de ce que je fais, mais si je fais une erreur, ça pourrait être un désastre total."](.) Amelie bit her lip, wrapping her arms around Thomas. ["Je vous remercie. Pour tout cela. Vous avez été si utile." ](,)  
  
[“De rien,”](.) Thomas whispered, hugging her back tight.  
  
Amelie forgot social conventions for a second and held Thomas for a second, smiling softly. She quickly remembered herself though, blushing a little as she cleared her throat and glanced up at James.  
  
James just smiled, running his fingers through Thomas’ hair. “Good chat?” He asked softly, leaning down to kiss the submissive’s forehead as Thomas nodded.  
  
"Very informative." Amelie nodded, standing so she could rejoin her own submissive.  
  
"You weren't- You guys weren't talking bad about me, were you?" Ambrose asked softly, eyes flitting nervously from Thomas to Amelie.  
  
“No, Ambrose,” Thomas said, honest and open. “There’s nothing bad to say.”  
  
"Okay." Ambrose's voice was quiet and he turned back to Amelie, resting his chin on her thigh. "What were you talking about, miss?"  
  
"That's none of your business, Ambrose." Amelie said, maybe a little too coldly. She didn't seem to notice, though, just kept playing with her submissive's hair and smiling down at him.  
  
"Oh." Ambrose swallowed thickly, looking down at his lap. "Sorry, miss. I shouldn't have been poking my nose where it didn't belong."  
  
"Shit. We were talking about ways to make you more comfortable. It's perfectly fine that you asked." Amelie mentally kicked herself, closing her eyes. She needed to stop being so goddamn dismissive or nothing would change.  
  
“It was nothing bad, Ambrose,” Thomas said. “Amelie wants to be the best dominant she can for you and she was asking my opinion about things that may help.”  
  
Ambrose nodded a little, trying to slow his breathing like James had said earlier. He didn't want to have another panic attack. Then Amelie cupped his cheek, her hand soft and delicate and perfectly manicured, and he immediately relaxed.  
  
"Thomas? Can I actually take you up on that coffee you offered me earlier?" Amelie asked, giving him a small smile.  
  
“Yes of course,” Thomas said, shifting Liberty out of his lap before standing. “Ambrose do you want anything? James?”  
  
"I'm alright-" Ambrose started out of habit, not wanting to cause Thomas to have to do more work. But he and Amelie had been working on him being more honest about the things he wanted, and this was pretty small. And Thomas had offered in the first place. "Actually, I'll take the same as Amelie. Lots of sugar. She takes hers black."  
  
“Nothing for me, Thomas, thank you,” James said.  
  
“Coming right up,” Thomas said, heading into the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ English translation of French part](https://atyourmercyverse.tumblr.com/post/175981842476/french-part-of-chapter-6-of-the-first-page-now)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I definitely don't love the way it makes him feel, though. He's up all night, doing whatever in God's name he's up to." Amelie hummed, looking down at Ambrose with warm eyes. "But I can't be too bothered by it."_
> 
> _"Coffee is a morning only beverage for Thomas," James said, smiling as Thomas knelt back down. James rested a hand back in the submissive's hair, playing with it gently. "And only one cup a day since it messes with his anxiety."_

"Jamie? I know that we just had a fight about this earlier, but..." Ambrose sighed softly, reaching into Amelie's purse and pulling out a pocket-sized photo album. "I had pictures developed of everyone. If you don't want it, you don't have to take it... I just thought it would be nice for you to have."  
  
“Oh,” James breathed, throat growing tight with emotion as he reached out and took the book. “Thank you, Ambrose.”  
  
"I knew that you couldn't see them, but a picture on your phone wasn't really that personal." Ambrose's voice was hopeful, and he looked up at James with wide eyes. "Do you like it?"  
  
“I love it thank you,” James said, pulling Ambrose into a hug.  
  
Ambrose made a noise of surprise, having to stand up rather quickly. He ended up awkwardly bent over so he could hug James, but it was still nice. "I know I've said it a hundred times, but I love you. I'm just going to have to behave so I can still see you." His voice was very quiet and he laughed, but it was kind of forced. He knew that Amelie had said she wouldn't keep him from James, but he couldn't help but think that her patience would wear thin eventually.  
  
“I love you too, Ambrose,” James said softly, pulling back and pressing a kiss to his brother’s forehead.  
  
Ambrose smiled softly, but frowned when James kissed his forehead. "What if Amelie-"  
  
"Ambrose, James is your brother. If he was some random dominant, I would be a little concerned about how much you're hugging each other. But he isn't, so I'm not." The dominant nodded, standing. "I need to use the bathroom." She said, before walking off in that direction.  
  
"James, what do you think of Amelie?" Ambrose asked softly, biting his lip.  
  
“I like her,” James said as Thomas returned with the coffee. “She clearly loves you very much. And she’s trying very hard to be a good dominant for you. I like her, Ambrose.”

  
"Sorry that I asked. She's just really scared that you won't. She's been hearing me talk about you and, honestly, she was even more nervous to come over here than I was." Ambrose said softly, shrugging. "I'm just scared sometimes that I'm not good enough for her."  
  
“Of course you are, Ambrose,” James said, pulling him into another hug. “You’re amazing and deserve all the love in the world.”  
  
"Thank you, James. That means a lot coming from you." Ambrose smiled, squeezing James tighter. "You're the best brother in the world." He sniffled softly, tears pricking at his eyes. "And I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you." He lurched into a round of sobs, clinging to his brother like a lifeline.  
  
James hugged him tight, rubbing Ambrose’ back and whispering softly, “I love you, Ambrose.”  
  
Amelie walked back into the room just then, giving Thomas a concerned look. "Est-ce que tout va bien?"  
  
"Oui," Thomas said with a nod, handing out the coffee to her.  
  
"Thank you, Thomas." Amelie nodded, smiling softly. She took a sip, tilting her head back and sighing contentedly. "That's good bean juice."  
  
Ambrose left out a watery laugh at that, pulling away from James and settling back down on his knees. He, also, took his cup from Thomas. "Thanks." He said quietly, downing it in three rather large gulps. "I hate the taste of coffee, but I love the way it makes me feel."  
  
"I definitely don't love the way it makes him feel, though. He's up all night, doing whatever in God's name he's up to." Amelie hummed, looking down at Ambrose with warm eyes. "But I can't be too bothered by it."  
  
"Coffee is a morning only beverage for Thomas," James said, smiling as Thomas knelt back down. James rested a hand back in the submissive's hair, playing with it gently. "And only one cup a day since it messes with his anxiety."  
  
Amelie smiled at the two of them, finding herself unconsciously mirroring James' actions. "Coffee is pretty much a once a week thing for Ambrose. Since he doesn't like it too much, and I worry about him getting too much caffeine. It's a treat, especially because he puts so much sugar in it." Her voice got much more pointed at the end, looking down at Ambrose with a raised eyebrow.  
  
Ambrose grinned up at his dominant sheepishly, blushing a little. "Oops." He giggled softly, leaning up into her hand. "I'd probably drink it more, but- Nevermind. It'll sound bad if I say it." He cut himself off, looking at his hands. He wouldn't want to make Amelie seem like a bad domme when she obviously wasn't.  
  
“You can tell us,” Thomas said, smiling as Liberty jumped back into his lap. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to but you can share, Ambrose. No one is going to get upset.”  
  
"What he was going to say was that- Okay, you have to promise not to take this the wrong way. But I decide what Ambrose eats. And what he drinks." Amelie closed her eyes in preparation for a negative reaction, forcing the words out as quickly as she could. She really didn't want to talk about this, but apparently, she had to.  
  
“Thomas decides what we eat,” James said with a shrug. “I’ll decide when we go out since ordering at restaurants makes him anxious a lot of the time but he picks all the food for home. Whatever works for your dynamic.”  
  
"Oh," Amelie said softly, furrowing her brows. "Honestly, I was just scared that you would think I was too controlling." She was pretty goddamn relieved, if she said so herself.

"She decides pretty much everything, actually," Ambrose said, his voice barely audible. He sighed softly, tracing circles on the floor.  
  
"Is that what you want?" Thomas asked softly. "Does it make you feel safe and loved? Or stifled and controlled?"  
  
"I don't have a problem with it," Ambrose said firmly, giving Thomas a look in an attempted to keep him from pushing it too much more. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened at dinner, even if Amelie and James were engaged in their own conversation and not really paying attention to him and Thomas.  
  
"Okay," Thomas said, looking down at Liberty in his lap, running his fingers through the cat's soft hair.  
  
Ambrose nodded, even though there was a pit in his stomach. "Miss? Can I go talk to Thomas in the other room? I want his advice about... submissive things." He bit his lip, not making eye contact with Amelie.  
  
"Of course." She hummed, leaning over to kiss him on the top of the head.  
  
"Let's go talk in the kitchen," Thomas said, resting Liberty in James' lap before standing and leading Ambrose out of the living room.  
  
"I just- It's a little of both. On one hand... I like that there's a lot of pressure taken off of me. And I was the one who suggested her having so much control in the first place. But I don't know if that was because I was fresh off my father or what. But it's not- I don't know. I don't know what I want." Ambrose sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I know if I asked, she would stop, but I don't know if I want her to stop at all. Everything is confusing and I hate the fact I was born a sub."  
  
"Yeah, things were very confusing when James and I first got together," Thomas said, leaning against the counter. "They still are truthfully but we're better at navigating them now. I think you should talk to Amelie, Ambrose. And maybe it isn't the case that she stops choosing your food and clothes completely but dials it back to maybe every other day or three times a week or something like that? You need to find that balance. Yes you are a submissive and your biology is wired in such a way that makes you need to submit to stay healthy but you're also a person with thoughts and opinions and you should be allowed to express them."  
  
"It's fucking dumb. This entire thing is so stupid. I don't want to have to rely on someone else to not spiral into severe depression." Ambrose sighed, and honestly considered kicking the counter or something, but that would probably make him seem like a petulant child. "And I don't know how to talk to her. How am I supposed to do that when I'm so scared?"  
  
“It’ll take lots of courage,” Thomas said, crossing his arms. “And it’ll be hard but it’ll be worth it. Sometimes when I’m overwhelmed and can’t talk I write things down. Maybe that’ll help?”  
  
"I guess. I'm just scared. I'm so scared that she's going to snap one day and everything is going to be bad. That she's going to be like my father. You know- Everytime I go to that fucking house, he finds some way that I've misbehaved and punishes me. Physically. He still hits me. I'm an adult, Thomas. I don't want her to be like that." Ambrose sighed, looking down.  
  
“I thought the same thing about James,” Thomas admitted softly. “My father is a lot like yours and I was terrified James was going to be the same way. But when I got caught doing something I really shouldn’t have been and that my father would have punished me harshly for James just sat me down and talked - not hitting or yelling. Amelie isn’t your father. And she clearly loves you. Even if she ever gets mad at you I very much doubt she’s going to hit you.”  
  
"Sorry, for doing all of this tonight. I've just been annoying." Ambrose sighed, swallowing thickly. "I'm terrified that I'm going to be hurt. Bad. I don't want to have a relationship like my parents have. I don't want to be scared of Amelie. I don't want to be punished for no reason and have every single aspect of my life micromanaged."  
  
“There’s no need to apologise,” Thomas said softly, giving Ambrose a gentle smile. “I want you to feel like you can talk to me. Amelie isn’t your dad and your relationship isn’t going to be like your parents.”  
  
"I just- I'm just going to have to do it, aren't I?" Ambrose frowned, shaking his head. He really, really didn't want to do this. "Thank you. You didn't have to do any of this, but you did. Thank you, Thomas."  
  
“You’re just going to have to do it,” Thomas agreed softly. “You’re welcome. Anytime you to talk I’m here to listen, Ambrose.”  
  
Ambrose sighed, frowning. He shuffled forward and wrapped his arms around Thomas, resting his chin on the other submissive's shoulder. "James is lucky. You're great, Thomas. I don't have enough ways to thank you."  
  
“Just promise me that you’ll talk to your dom,” Thomas said softly, hugging him back. “And that you’ll come to me if you need advice.”  
  
"I promise to try." Ambrose bit his lip, giving Thomas a tight squeeze before pulling away. "Of course I will. You get it in a way that nobody else I know does. Mostly because the only friends I really have in the city are Amelie's hipster liberal friends that didn't go through all of this shit when they were kids."  
  
“You’re always welcome here,” Thomas smiled. “And you can call or text me whenever.”  
  
Ambrose grinned, pulling back and fidgeting anxiously. "I should probably get back to Amelie. See if she needs anything." He said softly, looking at Thomas and then at the floor. He turned around and headed back to the living room, falling to his knees silently. He smiled up at his dominant and James, looking between the two of them.  
  
“You okay?” James asked softly, smiling at his brother has Thomas came back into the living room as well  
  
"I'm alright, Jamie. Just tired." Ambrose shrugged, looking down at his knees. Amelie's hand immediately went to his hair, twisting curls around her finger, letting them go, and then smoothing his hair down.  
  
“Okay,” James said, fiddling with Thomas’ collar.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"And thinking about me and James fighting. Like little kids." Ambrose grinned, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. It was kind of bittersweet, because of how much time James had missed._
> 
> “Oh trust me, Ambrose,” Thomas said, grinning cheekily. “There is nothing little about your brother.” He punctuated his statement with a wink.

Ambrose was silent, clenching his fists. He swallowed thickly, doing his best to not have another panic attack. She didn't even want to think about talking to Amelie about all of this.   
  
Amelie hummed, leaning down to kiss the top of her submissive's head. "My good boy." Ambrose smiled anxiously, fidgeting a little. He glanced up at James, then right back down at the floor.   
  
James watched him, frowning a bit in concern. He didn’t know whether he should bring it up or just let it go. He didn’t want Ambrose to get upset again.

  
Amelie looked own at Ambrose with soft eyes, biting her lip. "Love, are you okay?" She asked quietly, cupping his cheek.    
  
"I don't want to talk about this here, miss." Ambrose's voice was a little bit shaky and he sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "I know that we need to talk, but I don't want to impose by doing it here.   
  
“It wouldn’t be an imposition,” James said softly. “But I understand if you want to discuss things privately.”   
  
"No, no-" Ambrose shook his head, whining softly. He got up on the couch, looking up at Amelie nervously. "I know that I originally wanted you to have a lot of power over me, but now that I'm getting more independent... I don't like it as much. I'm scared all the time because I've seen submissives be hurt for complaining. And I don't want you to punish me. My mother lives in fear constantly and I don't want to be like that. And sometimes- you just assume how I feel without even asking me. And- And- I'm tired of it." His voice was fast but quiet, wanting to get it over with without a fight.   
  
"Oh," Amelie said, sounding a little surprised. She looked vaguely disappointed, in herself more than anyone else, and thought for a long time about what she was going to say. "Well, how do 

you want to fix that?"   
  
"I want to go to school. Not for anything serious, but- I don't know. I want to have something to do. Because I really do enjoy taking care of the apartment and you, but it's boring when all I have to do is watch talk shows and cook and clean." Ambrose turned his head, flinching back in preparation to be hit.   
  
Thomas reached out and rested a hand on Ambrose’s shoulder, squeezing it gently and giving the younger submissive a soft smile.   
  
"Ambrose, I am never, ever going to hit you. No matter what you do." Amelie sighed, reaching over to pull her submissive into a hug. "You could be the worst behaved submissive in the world and I would never hurt you in that way. And you should never be scared to talk to me. About anything. We'll update our contract soon. Do this properly."   
  
Ambrose smiled softly, feeling significantly more eased. "Thank you. And- don't get mad at me when I say this, alright?"   
  
"Of course I won't."   
  
"I know what I want to study. I want to get an art degree. That's what I do when I stay up all night. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty good. I never showed you because I didn't think you would care." He glanced over at James, swallowing thickly. It had gotten him into trouble once or twice for sure.   
  
James watched his brother with pride-filled eyes, smiling as Thomas rested his head on James’ leg, a small smile on the submissive’s face. ”You are very good,” James agreed, nodding. “You would be well-studying art.”   
  
"Oh. Thank you." Ambrose looked down at his lap, smiling when Amelie kissed him. "I love you. You and James. Hell, Thomas, too. You're growing on me. Like a fungus." He grinned down at the other submissive, tilting his head to the side.   
  
James laughed at the scandalised look on Thomas’ face. Thomas pressed a hand over his chest in mock horror before reaching out to ruffle Ambrose’s hair.   
  
Ambrose giggled softly, covering his mouth with his hand. "Or maybe you're more of a tumor. Who knows. The point is that you're kind of ridiculous but it's alright."   
  
“Thomas is very ridiculous,” James agreed, chuckling as the submissive shot him a look of mock hurt, pouting. James leaned down and kissed him, gently cupping his cheek.   
  
"Oh, come on. That's not nice." Amelie smiled softly, tilting her head to the side as she watched Thomas and James' little moment of affection. It was nothing short of absolutely adorable. She honestly hoped that she and Ambrose could have a relationships going as well as theirs once they got the kinks in their relationship worked out.   
  
“He knows that he’s ridiculous,” James laughed. “But I love him for it. My ridiculous husband.” Thomas smiled and leaned up to kiss James again.   
  
Amelie rolled her eyes, still smiling a little. "Awh. You two are sweet. It makes me want to puke." She said teasingly, watching Ambrose with soft eyes.   
  
“We’re fucking adorable,” Thomas agreed with a chuckle, sitting back onto his feet and resting his head on James’ shoulder.   
  
"Yeah. Sure. Thinking about my asshole big brother doing anything involving romance is kind of gross." Ambrose rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.   
  
Thomas laughed, a mischievous look in his eye as he said, “So I’m guessing you don’t want to hear how he’s-“ 

“Thomas,” James cut him off, giving his hair a little tug.   
  
Ambrose cringed and plugged his ears, screwing up his face. "La, la, la! I can't hear you!" Whatever Thomas was originally going to say, he definitely didn't want to hear it.   
  
Amelie burst out into laughter that was nothing short of hysterical, doubled over and clutching her stomach.   
  
“Fine fine,” Thomas sighed dramatically, grinning cheekily up at James. “I’ll just keep my tales of his prowess to myself.”   
  
"You'd better. I don't think that my good Christian ears could handle that. You fucking heathens." Amelie faked a gasp, crossing herself. "I am shocked, I am appalled- Disgusting. If I was wearing pearls, I would most definitely be clutching them."   
  
“Oh you poor thing,” Thomas laughed, shaking his head and grinning at her.

"You're an awful influence on my Ambrose, Thomas." Amelie giggled, shaking her head. "You and James both."   
  
Ambrose hummed softly, leaning up to kiss his dominant. "I'll make it through a couple of swear words and some innuendos, miss."   
  
“Ambrose is a big boy,” Thomas said, still smiling. “And if you’re going to be living in New York a few swear words and some innuendos are going to be the least of your worries.”   
  
"For as liberal as the city is, there are some actual pigs on the subway. Seriously, sometimes it feels like I should invest in a goddamn hamster ball to put Ambrose in so I don't have to worry about him." Amelie sighed, reaching down to run her hand through her submissive's hair.   
  
“Yeah, there are,” James agreed, patting Thomas’ head. “But if Ambrose survived our dad he can survive New York.”   
  
"See. I'm a big boy, miss. I can take care of myself. Anyway, Kika and Jamie being asshole older siblings kinda taught me to handle myself." Ambrose grinned, punching James' knee.   
  
James shrugged. “That’s what big siblings do, Ambrose.”   
  
"No, that's what asshole big siblings who beat up their-" Ambrose put on a fake, high-pitched voice. "-sweet, innocent, delicate submissive little brothers do!" He rested his hand on his forehead, pretending to faint.   
  
“You gave as good as you got most times,” James laughed.   
  
"Yeah, sure! Whatever you say, Jamie." Ambrose rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "You started it. All the goddamn time."   
  
“I did not!” James gasped.   
  
"You did too! One time all I did was use your toothbrush and you hit me so hard it hurt for a week!" Ambrose scoffed, crossing his arms.   
  
“You used my toothbrush!” James exclaimed. “And I didn’t hit you that hard.”   
  
"Yeah, only after you used fucking mine!" Ambrose's voice was sarcastic as he stood up, putting his hands on his hips."You did too! I'm three years younger than you and I'm a frail little sub!"   
  
“You are no such thing,” James laughed, shaking his head.   
  
"You wanna fight it out? I bet I'll lose." Ambrose frowned but burst into laughter all of the sudden.   
  
“Ambrose?” Thomas asked, frowning a bit in confusion at what was so funny.   
  
"Just- Thinking about myself like that. The dainty, submissive in distress. It's ridiculous." Ambrose grinned, chuckling softly.   
  
“It is,” Thomas agreed, smiling at the younger submissive.   
  
"And thinking about me and James fighting. Like little kids." Ambrose grinned, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. It was kind of bittersweet, because of how much time James had missed.   
  
“Oh trust me, Ambrose,” Thomas said, grinning cheekily. “There is nothing little about your brother.” He punctuated his statement with a wink.   
  
"Oh my God!" Ambrose shrieked, covering his ears. "That's disgusting. Thomas, I think I'm going to puke. Oh my fucking God."   
  
Thomas shrugged, laughing as he leaned back against James’ legs.   
  
Ambrose stumbled back onto the couch, flopping down next to Amelie. "See? You're traumatizing my sweet little submissive. You've offended my honor." Amelie sighed, shaking her head.   
  
“I think he’ll be okay,” Thomas said, laughing as James tugged sharply on his hair.    
  
“Thomas, behave,” James said, pulling his head back slightly so Thomas would look up at him.   
  
Amelie's smile faded a little as she raised her eyebrow at James. She almost told the other dominant that Thomas hadn't been bothering her or Ambrose, but she wouldn't have liked for James to say that to her and he didn't want to overstep.   
  
“Yes, sir,” Thomas said, his grin still bright and center on his face as he looked up at his dominant. “I’ll stop tormenting your brother with comments on your sexual prowess and-“   
  
“Thomas,” James interrupted, giving his hair another tug with clear amusement in his eyes. Thomas laughed, wriggling around so he could lean up and kiss James lightly.   
  
"Thomas!" Ambrose groaned, sounding quite a bit like his brother. "I've been living my life thus far perfectly fine and I've never heard about my brother's sex life."   
  
“Oh but there are such good stories to tell,” Thomas laughed, moving to sit in James’ lap instead of kneeling at his feet. “The things I could tell you, Ambrose.”   
  
"Yeah, and I could sit here and chat about the exact firmness and fullness of Amelie's breasts, but I'm not interested in oversharing." Ambrose stuck his tongue out, crossing his arms.   
  
“Oh no, please do share,” Thomas said with a wink.   
  
"Well, she's got this bra-" Ambrose began, a shit-eating grin spread across his face.   
  
"That's enough, you two," Amelie said firmly, pulling Ambrose closer. "Nobody but you needs to know about the bra."   
  
"It's a pretty magical bra." Ambrose nodded, tilting his head to the side.   
  
“I think that’s enough with the discussions of each other’s sex lives,” James said, running a hand down Thomas’ side. “I want to hear about Ambrose’s sex life about as much as he wants to hear about mine.”   
  
"Yes, sir!" Ambrose said dryly, giving James a little mock-salute. "Don't have to tell me twice."    
  
"Ambrose, I have to tell you twice almost every single time I tell you anything." Amelie snorted, shaking her head.   
  
“Oh, naughty sub,” Thomas teased, resting his head on James' shoulder.   
  
"Haha. You're all real comedians. You know, Reader's Digest pays all kinds of money for funny people." Ambrose giggled, leaning up into Amelie's hand.   
  
“Jealousy is an ugly look, Ambrose,” Thomas giggled.   
  
"I'm not a mirror. You're much more so the jealous one. I'm much better." Ambrose frowned, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead.   
  
“I don’t get jealous,” Thomas said, pouting.   
  
"No, you're jealous. Of me. Because Amelie's the best dominant in the world." Ambrose grinned, opting to lay on the couch with his head in Amelie's lap.   
  
“Well that’s not true at all,” Thomas said, wrapping his arms around James’ neck and hugging tight. “James is the best dominant in the world.”   
  
"Oh, yes it is. Amelie's the greatest. She's perfect." Ambrose said with a smile, humming happily when he felt his domme's hand in his hair.   
  
“So is James,” Thomas said, pouting.   
  
"James' ass is nowhere near as nice." Ambrose rolled his eyes, snorting softly.   
  
“Well that is categorically false,” Thomas laughed. “James has a fantastic ass.”   
  
"Sorry, but no. Amelie's ass is the greatest ass on the planet. Hate to break it to you." Ambrose shook his head, glancing up at Amelie before starting to giggle softly.   
  
“And to think I liked you,” Thomas sighed dramatically, cuddling in close to James.   
  
"Look, if you can't accept that Amelie has the universe's best ass, I don't want to associate with you anyway." Ambrose shook his head, sitting up and getting comfortable half in Amelie's lap.   
  
“Then I guess this is goodbye, Ambrose,” Thomas laughed.   
  
"You don't get it, because you've never seen her ass in action. Maybe you should-" Ambrose started, chuckling softly.   
  
"Nope! Nope, that's more than enough. Behave, Ambrose." Amelie cut him off, tugging on his hair.   
  
Thomas laughed, kissing the side of James’ neck and cuddling in closer as James hugged him tighter.   
  
"I mean, I do have a fantastic ass, but that's beside the point." Amelie giggled softly, brushing Ambrose's hair back and kissing him softly. "I love you, baby boy."    
  
"Love you too," Ambrose said with a small smile, looking down at his lap.   
  
“They look happy,” Thomas whispered to James, kissing his dominant’s cheek and nuzzling his neck. James hummed in agreement, watching his brother. It was so nice to see Ambrose so happy. It filled James’ heart with joy.   
  
Ambrose glanced nervously back at James before cuddling into Amelie some more, his head resting on her shoulder. "You're cute." Amelie hummed, rubbing small circles on Ambrose's back.   
  
“Yeah, Ambrose,” James smiled, teasing. “You’re super cute.”   
  
"I'm not cute! I'm drop dead gorgeous." Ambrose whined, shaking his head.   
  
James laughed, shaking his head fondly at his brother.   
  
Ambrose sighed contentedly, fidgeting with his hands. He yawned softly, burying his face in Amelie's shoulder. "Dear God, I'm tired."   
  
“It is getting late,” James said, sounding a bit sad as he glanced at the clock.   
  
"Yeah, we should probably be heading home. I have class tomorrow and we have quite a bit to talk about, anyway." Amelie sighed, letting Ambrose get off her lap before standing up.   
  
“Yes of course,” James said as both he and Thomas stood.    
  
“I’ll get your coats,” Thomas said, leaving the living room.   
  
Ambrose sighed softly, wrapping his arms around James and hugging him tightly. "I'll call you. Or text you. I'll talk to you soon, okay?" He mumbled, squeezing James one last time before pulling away.   
  
"It was a pleasure to meet you," Amelie said, offering her hand for James to shake. "Ambrose was right. You're a wonderful person."   
  
“It was great to meet you too,” James said, shaking Amelie’s hand. “And I’ll definitely talk to you soon, Ambrose.”   
  
"Yeah. For sure." Ambrose said softly, smiling up at James nervously. "If Amelie-"   
  
"Ambrose, I've already told you I'm not going to keep you from James. From anyone." Amelie sighed, shaking her head. "Thank you for dinner, by the way. And for everything else. Being there for Ambrose when your father was being the worst."   
  
“He’s my little brother and I love him,” James said, giving Ambrose a smile. “I’m always going to be there for him. No matter what.”   
  
"Well, from what I hear, you've been good to him and I have to thank you for that." Amelie nodded, glancing over to Ambrose and the way he was grinning at James. It was nothing short of heartwarming to see her submissive so happy.   
  
“No thanks necessary,” James said as Thomas returned with Amelie and Ambrose’s coats.   
  
"Thank you, Thomas," Ambrose said softly, taking his coat before pausing. He hugged Thomas quickly, not wanting to make the other submissive uncomfortable.   
  
Amelie just offered her hand, smiling. "Thank you. Dinner was excellent. And thank you for all of the advice you've given me tonight. You've been very helpful."   
  
“Thank you for coming,” Thomas said, shaking her hand. “We’d love to have you over again sometime.”   
  
"We'd be honored to come back. Especially if there's pie." Amelie giggled, pulling on her coat and placing her hand on Ambrose's shoulder. "Come on, love." Ambrose spared one last glance and smile to James before following Amelie back outside.

**Author's Note:**

> [Avi's (aka isnonstop) tumblr](https://isnonstop.tumblr.com)


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